Florida Republicans and Trump World Honor Susie Wiles, 'The Most Powerful Woman in the World'

ORLANDO— The highly anticipated "Red Florida Dinner" event hosted The Republican Party of Florida (RPOF), where White House Chief of Staff  Susie Wiles was awarded the coveted 'Statesman of the Year' award, was nothing less than a well-deserved acknowledgment of stellar political career by the woman President Donald Trump calls "The most powerful woman in the world," and served as a platform for the Trump administration to take another victory lap after the historic 2024 election night comeback victory.

RPOF Chairman Evan Power and Rep. Byron Donalds presented the award to Wiles. The actual award has the quote, "The most powerful woman in the world" inscribed on it.

“We call it the greatest political comeback in political history,” Wiles said during her acceptance speech. “I don’t know if others will agree with that, but that’s what we think about in the 2024 campaign.”

Wiles was right, the 2024 presidential election victory for President Trump, but it could also be considered her crowning achievement, and a sort of comeback for her as well.

During the course of the evening, White House staffers like  Deputy Chief of Staff James Blair, campaign consultants and "partners in crime," Chris LaCivita and Tony Fabrizio, as well as elected officials like Sen. Rick Scott,  all expressed their unwavering admiration of her work ethic, and outlined how instrumental she was in guiding past campaigns to victory, in particularly  Gov. Ron DeSantis's 2018 gubernatorial win over Progress Democratic gubernatorial nominee Andrew Gillum.

While Wiles mentioned Gov. DeSantis 2016 gubernatorial win, Sen. Scott, LaCivita, Fabrizio, Blair, and others did not hold back in giving her full credit for DeSantis' election night victory. If not for Wiles, DeSantis would have lost to Gillum regardless of the coveted Trump endorsement he received.

“There would be no Rick Scott without Susie Wiles. There would be no Ron DeSantis without Susie Wiles,” said Blair.

And of course President Trump, along with Vice President J.D. Vance sent along video messages of support that asserted Wiles' political prowess that has not only help get Govs. DeSantis and Scott get elected, but was pivotal in creating the political framework that has created the 1 million  voter registration advantage Republicans hold over the Florida Democratic Party.

“You are a spectacular woman, and you are truly a great statesman, stateswoman, a very, very special person"- President Donald Trump

2010: The Year of the Underdog

During the 2010 midterm election cycle, the nation saw the birth of the Tea Party grassroots movement. While many conservative-minded Republicans won their respective races across the country as a result of the rebirth of conservative principles, Florida was ground zero for the cage match between establishment (Deep State) Republicans and the burgeoning and  revamped Conservative Republican movement.

Then Speaker Marco Rubio was wrapped up in a David vs. Goliath type of a senate race against  then-sitting Republican Governor Charlie Crist, and a virtual unknown by the name of Rick Scott, was also up against the old Florida political swamp.

Wiles wasn't involved in Rubio's race, but she was deeply involved with now-Senator Scott's gubernatorial race against former Attorney General Bill McCollum.

From the very beginning, the Scott vs the Florida Swamp race was ugly. At the time, Scott had only a pregnant staffer and Fabrizio on his team, and were working out of a desolate office building in downtown Fort Lauderdale.  Fabrizio brought on Wiles because he knew her capabilities.

“Susie never runs from a fight,” Fabrizio said. “Susie runs to the fight.”

On a personal note, I cut my teeth in politics covering both the Rubio and Scott campaigns, and saw first hand how Wiles marshaled staffers and the Republican grassroots activists.

It was all hands on deck, and it paid off. Scott won his race and then went on to win re-election in 2014.

Let's not forget Pam Bondi, who also faced establishment pushback and still won her race that same year.

Wiles helped Bondi get appointed to be U.S. Attorney General.

Not only are“Floridians overpopulate the West Wing in a really big way," as Wiles stated, but Floridians are also leaving a heavy footprint  throughout the federal government.,

Two years after she help President Trump get elected, Trump suggested to DeSantis that he bring in Wiles to help his fledgling gubernatorial campaign.

Trump's endorsement helped defeat former Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam in the primary election, but it was Wiles who came in and breathed air into the general election campaign.

The campaign was in shambles, and all signs pointed to a Republican loss.

A concerned Senator Rubio even called me to ask if I knew what was happening to DeSantis' campaign, questioning the campaign operations from top to bottom.

Wiles saved the day, but it eventually cost her.

Shortly after Wiles directed DeSantis's gubernatorial transition, the now infamous falling out between Wiles and DeSantis occured. According to several individuals with knowledge of some of the particulars of the falling out, what Wiles endured was uncalled for.

The rift between Wiles and DeSantis continues and appears irreperable. DeSantis is said to have also targeting those that Wiles brought into the fold, including Blair and now-Senator Joe Gruters.

2024: The Year of the Payback

DeSantis's crushing defeat to Trump in the 2024 Republican presidential primary election, where he lost the Iowa Caucuses by 20 percentage points, could be seen as a political payback for Wiles, who coordinated all the president's campaign efforts.