Former Trump aide linked to impersonation plot impacting elite figures

Daily Mail​

30-05-2025

Donald Trump's top advisor has fallen victim to a sinister scheme by hackers who infiltrated her phone and used artificial intelligence to impersonate her voice. The nefarious plot involved stolen data from the personal cellphone of White House chief of staff Susie Wiles (pictured second left) that was then used to call some of American's most powerful people.
Over the course of several weeks, high profile senators, governors and American business executives have received voicemails or messages from an unknown number claiming to be Wiles, Wall Street Journal reported. The hacker's came undone when they made the fatal mistake of asking questions that the president's closest aide should know the answer to. Wiles - who has been nicknamed 'Ice Maiden' - has been contacting associates urging them to disregard any unusual messages or calls from unknown numbers purporting to be her.
In a terrifying twist, some of the phone calls used a voice that mimicked Wiles. Authorities suspect the impersonator used artificial intelligence to replicate it. The FBI is now investigating the unusual situation, but do not believe that a foreign nation is behind it, sources told the publication. 'The FBI takes all threats against the president, his staff, and our cybersecurity with the utmost seriousness,' FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement. 'Safeguarding our administration officials' ability to securely communicate to accomplish the president's mission is a top priority.'
Authorities are reportedly scrambling to figure out what the goal of the plot is. In at least one case the impersonator asked for a cash transfer, while in another they asked a lawmaker for a list of people who the president could consider pardoning. But many of the texts which came through appeared to be legitimate and fooled some of Wiles' contacts. There are allegedly no suggestions that any sensitive information was handed over. Some of her associates became suspicious when the impersonator began asking questions - sometimes about Trump - that Wiles as his closest advisor would have known the answers to.
Others said some messages were sent with poor grammar, and in a more formal manner than Wiles generally communicates. These messages were not sent from Wiles' phone number. Her personal cellphone contacts list was reportedly hacked, giving the impersonator access to a long list of numbers she has amassed over the years as one of Washington's most formidable political players. The breach comes after a series of embarrassing data leaks during Trump's second term. In one instance, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg, was accidentally included in a Signal group chat where Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth discussed planned military strikes in Yemen.
Trump's former national security adviser, Mike Waltz, took responsibility for the error and was reassigned to a different role. Wiles was referred to as the 'most feared and least known political operative' prior to stepping into her now high-profile role. She is now serving as the first female White House chief of staff in history after helping Trump to his historic victory in November as his campaign manager.
During the campaign, Iranians managed to hack into Wiles' email account and reportedly accessed a research dossier she had on file about Trump's running mate, now-vice president JD Vance. Those who know Wiles best say she's an expert at shaping political narratives and an expert at 'managing personalities and managing information.' And, according to associates, there's something else to know about Wiles: Don't cross her.
Her sheer power within the administration was on full display in early April amid reports she had fallen out with then-First Buddy, Elon Musk. The Tesla founder treated Wiles, the most powerful woman in the White House, like a 'secretary,' a source told DailyMail.com at the time. Nicknamed the 'Ice Maiden' for her cool, unflustered demeanor, Wiles earned accolades for bringing order to the chaos during the 2024 presidential campaign. But her attempts to do the same in the White House were, at times, reportedly unwittingly undercut by Musk, who used his massive platform on X - where he has 218.5 million followers - to make announcements at the drop of a hat and throw firebombs of rhetoric into the ether.
For his part, Trump made it clear to Musk that he was a member of the staff and Wiles was in charge. 'It has been reiterated to him in ways that, yes, he reports to the chief of staff,' a Trump aide told NBC News of Musk. Many Trump officials - including Wiles - were frustrated that Musk wasn't sharing his plans before he made public announcements about what his DOGE team was doing to their agencies.
His lack of coordination would throw off the White House message of the day and rollout plans for the administration's initiatives. Musk, perhaps aware of tensions, tried to make amends. He offered to carry Wiles bag for her when they were walking across the South Lawn to board Marine One.
But in the wake of the bad blood rumors began to swirl that Musk grew increasingly on the outs within the administration. He has since stepped down entirely from his work with DOGE, a few days ahead of the scheduled end of his Special Government Employee status.