Susie Wiles is set to take on one of the most important — and arguably unforgiving — jobs in Washington as President-elect Trump’s chief of staff. Those who know Wiles and have worked with her during her years as a Republican operative in Florida and as one of the leaders of Trump’s 2024 campaign said there is reason to think she will succeed where others faltered. She’s respected by members of Trump’s orbit and those outside of it. She has a track record of success politically, and she knows Trump in ways his previous top aides did not. “What makes her different from previous chiefs of staff is she’s been in the trenches with him. She knows what he wants to do and where he wants to go. Other chiefs of staff, there was always that feeling out period,” said Ford O’Connell, a Florida-based GOP strategist. The chief of staff serves as the closest aide to the president. They typically control information and access to the Oval Office, prioritize the president’s agenda and manage the rest of the White House staff, among other responsibilities. Trump’s first White House chief of staff, Reince Priebus, took the position after leading the Republican National Committee and was forced out after six months on the job. He also took office in an environment where Steve Bannon also worked as a senior adviser to Trump in the White House. The second Trump chief of staff, John Kelly, was hired after being Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Homeland Security. He sought to rein Trump in and lasted 17 months, but he has since become an outspoken critic who said Trump met the definition of a fascist. His third chief, Mick Mulvaney, served in an acting capacity for roughly 13 months and took a more hands-off approach. But he faced scrutiny for giving House Democrats fodder to carry out their impeachment inquiry over withheld aid to Ukraine. Mulvaney is now a contributor with NewsNation, The Hill’s sister network. Trump’s fourth chief of staff, Mark Meadows, was brought over from the House. Meadows ended up mired in legal cases over efforts to overturn the 2020 election results after he allowed lawyers pushing debunked fraud cases access to the then-president. “There really was no White House chief in any meaningful sense of the title because nobody could tell him hard truths,” said Chris Whipple, author of “The Gatekeepers,” a book on the role of White House chiefs of staff throughout history. “This second time around, we’ll see if Susie Wiles is up to it. It has always been mission impossible.”  Wiles, who will make history as the first woman to serve as White House chief of staff, will enter the job after working for the past two years as one of two top officials running Trump’s campaign, alongside Chris LaCivita. In announcing her hire, Trump called Wiles “tough, smart, innovative” and “universally admired and respected.” She worked in the Reagan administration and as chief of staff to then-Jacksonville Mayor John Delaney in the late 1990s, but in recent decades her work has largely been focused on campaigns.  She ran Sen. Rick Scott’s (R-Fla.) successful 2010 campaign for governor, ran Trump’s 2016 Florida operations, worked on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R) successful 2018 gubernatorial campaign and eventually helped lead Trump’s 2024 White House bid. Wiles has largely operated behind the scenes. That has likely served her well with Trump, who has famously been irked by aides who overshadow him. Those who have worked with Wiles described her as a savvy political player who is also able to navigate the many clashing personalities that come with campaigns. One source who knows both Wiles and Trump described her as “tough” and “capable.” “People came to understand she doesn’t pick every fight, she picks the fights that really matter,” said Ed Newberry, a partner at Squire Patton Boggs who has known Wiles for more than 30 years. “She picks the issues that really matter. The president has come to learn that he doesn’t have to agree with her, but he should listen. And I think it's pretty clear as the campaign unfolded that he did listen.”  Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) offered rare bipartisan praise for Wiles’s hire, calling her “brilliant, tough” and “strategic.” Moskowitz previously served as director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management. While those who know her agree she’s well equipped for the job, Wiles will face a few major challenges upon arriving in the West Wing. Trump can be impulsive, and he churned through staff at a rapid rate during his first term. He is also likely to have numerous people in his ear, both from inside and outside the administration, seeking influence and trying to drive an agenda. “You’ve got to keep Donald Trump from the hanger-ons, the people who go through the side door, the people who create a second-guessing of what you try to do so he stays on the course,” said a Republican lobbyist with insight into Trump's orbit. “And you got to maintain a level of discipline, if she can do that to 80 percent they will be successful.” While Wiles has a wealth of knowledge running campaigns, experts said it will be a different challenge trying to balance managing Trump and the West Wing while also trying to work with various factions on Capitol Hill. And when Trump goes off script or ignores his staff, it will no longer just affect his campaign, it will affect the U.S., its allies and other nations around the world. “On the plus side, she has shown that she can work with Trump and tell him hard truths at least once in a while,” Whipple said. “But the stakes now are exponentially greater, I think, because there’s a huge difference between running a campaign and running the White House.” Alex Gangitano contributed to this story.