Throughout the history of different White Houses, when there’s a major push to cut down on leaks to the press, the very existence of that push is almost always itself leaked to the press. Early in Donald Trump’s first term, in early 2017, then-Press Secretary Sean Spicer reportedly collected staffers’ phones to see who had been linking, as Politico reported at the time.
And that was the case this week with the Trump White House.
According to Politico, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles told White House staff in an email in March that unauthorized leaks to the press would not be tolerated. And the email making that demand was itself leaked to Politico.
“No staff member within the Executive Office of the President is permitted to speak with members of the news media without the explicit approval of the White House Communications Office,” Wiles said in the email, adding that “unauthorized leaks will not be tolerated and are subject to sanction up to and including termination.”
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“Violation of this policy can result in significant disruption to ongoing operations and can potentially endanger missions and activities of national significance,” Wiles added.
SCOOP: In late March, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles sent a blunt message to staff across the Executive Office of the President: Stop leaking to the press.
In an email obtained by West Wing Playbook, Wiles warned that “no staff member within the Executive Office of the…
— Ben Johansen (@benjohansen3) May 8, 2026
And in another example of a leak, “a person familiar with the matter granted anonymity to discuss internal dynamics” told Politico more.
“She was generally very frustrated with leaks.”
The White House responded to the report in a statement that didn’t seem to deny the report.
