United States president-elect Donald Trump has made the first official appointment of his incoming administration, announcing 2024 campaign co-chair, Susan Summerall Wiles, as his chief of staff.

The president-elect’s transition team already is vetting a series of candidates ahead of his return to the White House on 20 January 2025.

Many who served under Trump in his first term do not plan to return, though a handful of loyalists are rumoured by US media to be making a comeback. A new group of colleagues also now surrounds the 78-year-old Republican.

There are more than 4,000 positions to be filled across Trump’s cabinet and White House, and across the federal government.

Susie Wiles and campaign co-chair Chris LaCivita were the masterminds behind Trump’s landslide victory over Kamala Harris.

In his victory speech on Wednesday, he called her “the ice maiden” – a reference to her composure – and claimed she “likes to stay in the background”.

Wiles was confirmed the next day as the first appointee of his second term – as his White House chief of staff. She will be the first woman ever to hold that job.

The chief of staff is often a president’s top aide, overseeing daily operations in the White House West Wing and managing the boss’s staff.