Donald Trump ‘s right-hand woman has lifted the lid on Elon Musk ‘s contentious relationship with the president and why it was doomed from the start. Susie Wiles, the president’s chief of staff nicknamed the ‘Ice Maiden,’ divulged new details on the tempestuous relationship between the world’s richest man and the world’s most powerful man. As chief of staff she is privy to high-level discussions and maintains a seat in Cabinet meetings and even in the Situation Room.

Her access to the White House is practically unparalleled, meaning while Musk sometimes overnighted in the Lincoln Bedroom, she saw everything close up. Practically attached at the hip for the final stages of the Trump’s 2024 campaign until Musk’s departure from DOGE at the end of May, the duo’s relationship has soured rapidly in their weeks apart .

‘How can people be expected to have faith in Trump if he won’t release the Epstein files?’ Musk wrote on Tuesday putting the administration on blast for not releasing the full trove of documents. The X owner has posted on his app about Trump many times since his White House split, even skewering the Republican’s domestic policy plan, the ‘Big, Beautiful Bill,’ claiming it would drive America into ‘debt slavery.’ But behind the scenes Musk and Trump had a relationship that Wiles said was akin to a father-son connection.

‘The president was very, very kind to him, and Elon had so much to offer us,’ Wiles said. Speaking with the New York Post’s Miranda Devine , Wiles agreed with the host’s assessment that Musk had a ‘fatherly fixation’ with Trump. ‘He knew things we didn’t know. He knew people and technologies that we didn’t know. It was a great thing when it was a great thing, and had a very, I think, a very troublesome ending.’

When pressed by Devine about why things imploded like one of the SpaceX owner’s test flights the politically astute ‘Ice Maiden’ dodged. ‘I don’t know. I don’t understand it.’ She described the fracas as ‘very troublesome,’ but downplayed the spat as just a ‘little hiccup’ for the White House.

‘I know that what has been said doesn’t ring accurate to me, but I don’t know, I enjoyed working with Elon,’ Wiles continued while choosing her words carefully about the two trading barbs online. In June, Musk posted then deleted a statement claiming the president ‘is in the Epstein files … That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!’

The billionaire later apologized, saying he regretted some of his posts about the Republican. Musk again revitalized the attack line on Tuesday, claiming, without evidence, that former Trump advisor Steve Bannon is on the Epstein list. Trump called Musk a ‘train wreck’ after the billionaire’s frenzied posts, often coming in the early morning hours. Though Musk’s outrage goes beyond just traditional MAGA figures.

After Trump’s tax-and-spending bill passed last week the mega-billionaire announced the creation of a new political party, the ‘America Party,’ though it is not yet registered with the Federal Election Commission. The father of at least 14 children also claimed he would primary every Republican that voted for the over $3 trillion package, which is all but five, meaning 268 GOP lawmakers can expect challenges to their reelection – if Musk is to be believed.

‘I think he’s a fascinating person and sees the world differently. And I think that’s probably what the President saw too, just a little bit different than the average Joe, but certainly came to not a good ending,’ Wiles said. Though the chief of staff compared Elon Musk to an average Joe, she did laud him for being the world’s richest person and ‘I think the world’s smartest man, honestly.’ She also said the billionaire’s intuition and ‘insight into people’ during the transition period was important to the team’s success.

‘He does have a quirky, my word, approach to the way he views virtually everything, but certainly business and organizations and government and insight into people that were really important, I think, in the very early days, particularly during transition.’ Wiles, 68, is a longtime political consultant and lobbyist who has been in Trump’s inner orbit since February 2021. She previously worked for Ronald Reagan’s administration and has gotten praise among Republicans for keeping the energetic and – at times – frenetic president on task and on message.