Photo shows top Trump aide

An image circulated on social media and verified by CBS News shows Katie Wiles, the daughter of White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, recently traveled to Republika Srpska, the Bosnian-controlled territory led by pro-Russian Serb strongman Milorad Dodik.

The image, shared online by conservative Albanian American activist Evi Kokalari, shows Wiles holding a rifle and standing next to a man CBS News has identified as Željko Budimir, the interior minister of the semi-autonomous Republika Srpska administration. In a post on X, Kokalari claimed the image was taken in August. CBS News Confirmed has verified the image is of Wiles and that it was taken in Republika Srpska. The image appears to be a screenshot of a story from Wiles' personal Instagram account, with a caption "mostly work + some serious fun!"

The RIS shooting range is located in northern Republika Srpska and is frequented by Budimir, the interior minister, according to Bosnian media reports.

A spokesperson for the firm acknowledged to CBS News Thursday that Wiles had taken the trip in mid-August but on business for another client of Continental Strategy.

"Katie Wiles visited the country in mid-August for two days with a U.S.-based company who was invited to do a feasibility study in the region," the spokesperson said. "Wiles provides strategic communications support to this US company and has done so for over two years. Wiles has not spoken with any United States Government official regarding Srpska."

U.S. foreign agent registration filings [FARA] reviewed by CBS News show that Continental Strategy registered to lobby on behalf of Republika Srpska in early 2026.

Another FARA filing from the same firm this year lists the signature of Alejandro Garcia, a former deputy political director for Mr. Trump's presidential campaign, as a consultant for Republika Srpska. Garcia is also a partner at Continental Strategy.

"Garcia is the sole person who has interacted with the United States government regarding Srpska, and his contacts have all been meticulously tracked to be reported in accordance with FARA requirements," the spokesperson said.

On Tuesday, the New York Times reported that James Blair and Chris LaCivita, two key GOP strategists in the Republicans' midterm election efforts, spent some of last week in the small, self-governing territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina to help Dodik's party with its own campaigning. Katie Wiles has no such involvement with Mr. Trump's political operation.

Serbian secessionist leader Dodik, who until recently served as the president of Republika Srpska, has long been accused of undermining the U.S.-brokered Dayton Accords, which ended the bloody sectarian violence between Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia in the 1990s. A Sarajevo court last year convicted Dodik of failing to comply with the terms of Bosnia's 1995 peace accords. He was then removed as president and banned from holding political office by Bosnia's electoral authorities.

In a Truth Social post Wednesday, Mr. Trump said he did not "have any idea" who LaCivita and Blair had been working for and he pledged, "if there's a conflict, I will terminate them, immediately!"

"They don't have a conflict, because they're independent people. You know, they don't work for me," Mr. Trump said, addressing reporters in the Oval Office. "They are consultants and I assume they have a lot of clients. I don't know who their clients are. If I thought they had a conflict here, I would terminate them."