Meet brains behind Donald Trump's 'impossible' victory...

The world knows Donald Trump, the man who made a historic comeback to win a landslide victory in the 2024 US presidential election.

The world, however, does not know the brains behind the victory: Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita.

As co-chairs of the Trump campaign, Wiles and LaCivita rarely took the front-stage. Instead, they made sure their boss stayed at the fore of public attention. Trump thanked the two in his victory speech on Tuesday in Florida.

“Let me also express my tremendous appreciation for Susie and Chris, the job you did,” said Trump.

Susie Wiles, most feared strategist you’ve never heard

Wiles works in the shadows.

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Wiles is only occasionally seen and rarely in the front row, staying in the shadows and silently plotting to win. Trump calls her “ice bay”.

“Susie likes to stay sort of in the back. Let me tell you, the ice baby. We call her the ice baby…Susie likes to stay in the background. She’s not in the background,” said Trump.

Writing about Wiles in Politico, Michael Kruse noted that she is a “force more sensed than seen” and that her influence is obvious but invisible.

Wiles is among the few persons that Trump actually listens to. She convinced Trump to urge Republicans to vote early and by mail, which worked in his favour, according to Kruse, who dubbed her as not just Trump’s senior advisers, but most important adviser.

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While Wiles played a limited role in Trump’s 2016 campaign as well, she has had a more pronounced role since after the 2020 election. Kruse noted that she has essentially been Trump’s chief of staff for more than three years.

Kruse noted her work as the main reason why Trump has been able to overcome all of his troubles so far, ranging from the 2020 loss and various criminal cases.

Kruse further noted, “She’s one of the reasons Trump is the GOP’s presumptive nominee and Ron DeSantis is not. She’s one of the reasons Trump’s current operation has been getting credit for being more professional than its fractious, seat-of-the-pants antecedents. And she’s a leading reason Trump has every chance to get elected again — even after his loss of 2020, the insurrection of 2021, his party’s defeats in the midterms of 2022, the criminal indictments of 2023 and the trial (or trials) of 2024.”

Even before the election result, Wiles was widely reported to be the frontrunner to be Trump’s Chief of Staff in case he won. Whether she takes up the job or not remains to be seen.

Chris LaCivita, a veteran giant-slayer

LaCivita has a history of big-ticket victories.

In 2004, LaCivita was central to George W Bush winning over Democratic rival John Kerry.

The Atlantic’s Tim Alberta noted that LaCivita is a strategist and ad maker best known “for destroying John Kerry’s presidential hopes in 2004, masterminding the “Swift Boat” attacks” that tanked the Democratic campaign.

Together with Wiles, Alberta noted that he posed “a threat unlike anything Democrats encountered during the 2016 or 2020 elections”.

Speaking at the invitation of Trump during the victory speech, LaCivita modestly said that the victory was unexpected.

“This was unexpected, but I just want to thank, obviously, President Trump for this journey. It was a great one and he’s a hell of a candidate and he’s going to be a hell of a great 47th president and this team that we had the best team and of course, even my boss, Susie Wiles, the best. Thank you,” said LaCivita.