WASHINGTON - US President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday tapped Susie Wiles, his campaign manager, to be White House chief of staff.

"Susie Wiles just helped me achieve one of the greatest political victories in American history, and was an integral part of both my 2016 and 2020 successful campaigns," Trump said in a statement.

Wiles, an experienced Republican strategist, is widely acknowledged for overseeing Trump's most organized and effectively run campaign. Trump thanked Wiles personally in his victory speech at his election headquarters in West Palm Beach, Florida.

READ MORE: Republicans projected to widen Senate majority with Pennsylvania victory

"Susie is tough, smart, innovative, and is universally admired and respected. Susie will continue to work tirelessly to Make America Great Again," Trump said.

"It is a well deserved honor to have Susie as the first-ever female Chief of Staff in United States history. I have no doubt that she will make our country proud," he continued.

The tentative appointment came less than two days after Trump beat his Democratic opponent and Vice-President Kamala Harris, winning by landslide on issues including inflation, immigration and Middle East conflicts.  

At the same time, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has appointed Stephen Mull, a former diplomat who has served in both Democratic and Republican administrations, to oversee the transition from President Joe Biden's administration to that of Trump within the State Department, the department announced Thursday.

ALSO READ: Middle East leaders congratulate Trump on winning election

"Ambassador Mull will work with the president-elect's team to ensure as successful a transition as possible," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told a regular news briefing.

Mull's most recent position at the State Department was the Acting Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, which he served for a short period of nearly three months between early June and late August 2018 during Trump's first presidential term. Prior, Mull was the US ambassador to Poland from 2012 to 2015 during the second administration of Barack Obama.

"The peaceful transfer of power is an essential element of our democracy that is vital to our nation's security," Miller said. "That's why it's so important for us to conduct a smooth, efficient and professional transition process."

ALSO READ: Putin says 'ready' to have discussions with Trump

Mull already started his work on behalf of the State Department, which involved "attending meetings, getting ready to coordinate the process," Miller said, adding that the department has yet to receive contact made by the Trump transition team due to the fact that there's a process that the team will have to go through.

According to a Wednesday report by CNN, Brian Hook, former US special representative for Iran during the first Trump administration, was tapped as Mull's counterpart on the Trump transition team.

Coincidentally, Hook's job in the former Trump administration was preceded exactly by Mull, under whose charge the post was named Coordinator for Iran Nuclear Implementation. Mull served in that role from 2015 to 2017, describing it in a January interview with Xinhua as "one of the hardest jobs I had as an American diplomat".

After leaving the federal government, Mull joined the University of Virginia in 2018 and was named the university's Vice-Provost for Global Affairs.