Cvijanovic Meets Susie Wiles at White House in Washington

Zeljka Cvijanovic, the Serb member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), met on September 21, 2026, at the White House in Washington with Susie Wiles, chief of staff and closest aide to US President Donald Trump. The talks covered the situation in BiH and the region, along with issues important to Republika Srpska, and the meeting ended with an announcement of a new gathering in roughly a month to six weeks.

Cvijanovic was the first to reveal the meeting, posting on Instagram that she was building new friendships and strengthening old ones, and that she looked forward to continuing her cooperation with the administration in Washington.

Who Is Susie Wiles?

Wiles is regarded as one of the most influential figures in Trump’s political circle. She was among the key people behind his 2024 presidential campaign, and after his victory she was chosen to run the inner presidential team as White House chief of staff. According to regional media, her influence comes not only from the position itself but also from years of trust she has built with Trump.

After the meeting, Cvijanovic said residents of Republika Srpska can expect concrete benefits from the talks.

Better times are definitely ahead of us, and we have to make the most of them.

She then described the substance of the White House conversation in more detail.

We talked about important topics for Republika Srpska, but also, more broadly, about the situation within Bosnia and Herzegovina and within our region. We are definitely strengthening some old friendships, opening some new doors, building new friendships.

Cvijanovic also said the conversation touched on economic topics, including investment opportunities, and that some of Republika Srpska’s positions are now better understood than they were before.

I definitely notice that we have opened some doors that used to be unimaginable, doors it was once impossible to even think of walking through, to talk, to have quality conversations, to have someone willing to listen to you, to see where you stand, and to have someone act in a friendly way toward Republika Srpska. We agreed to come back here soon, in roughly a month to a month and a half, to continue on some of the topics we started today, where certain activities are expected.

Reaction in Banja Luka

The meeting also drew comment from analyst Dragomir Andjelkovic, who told the SRNA news agency that it was another step in building a partnership between Republika Srpska and part of the US administration, and that this partnership should be expanded further.

To stand up to that, we have to look for partners not only in Moscow and Beijing, among the powers opposed to Euro-Atlantic forces, but also in America, which has largely broken away from that kind of anti-sovereigntist and anti-national Euro-Atlantic narrative.

Andjelkovic added that the old Euro-Atlantic powers still running European countries remain deeply anti-Serb and have not given up on centralizing BiH, and that, in his view, deepening Republika Srpska’s contacts with Washington is part of the response to that policy. He also said the Cvijanovic-Wiles meeting was not just an isolated step but a sign of a policy direction that will continue even after the elections.

Neither Cvijanovic nor the White House has so far released further details on which topics remain open for the announced next meeting, or on the exact date when it might take place.