Trump’s National Security Council trimmed in restructuring, sources say
Watch Video: Why Mike Waltz is out as national security adviser
The White House is trimming and restructuring the National Security Council, sources told CBS News on Friday — weeks after President Trump replaced his national security adviser and gave Secretary of State Marco Rubio the powerful post.
Some NSC staff are moving elsewhere inside the administration, but not all, the sources said. Aides were informed of some of the changes in a meeting at the White House on Friday afternoon.
Vice President JD Vance’s national security adviser Andy Baker is taking a top role in the restructured NSC as deputy national security adviser, as is White House deputy chief of staff Robert Gabriel. Both will be deputies at NSC, three sources said. Baker will continue serving as a Vance aide, according to a White House official.
About 20 people have been informed so far that they are on administrative leave, sources said. Some of the reassignments don’t take place until next week, one source said.
Among those leaving the NSC: Eric Trager, who had been handling the Middle East; Alex Wong, principal deputy national security adviser, who is shifting elsewhere in the administration; and Andrew Peek, who handled European matters.
The NSC’s communications team is also dissolving as part of the restructuring. Requests for comment were referred to the White House press team.
Axios reported on some of the changes earlier Friday.
“It’s terrible. Less people means less control of the bureaucracy. The key is getting people who are loyal not less people,” one former member of the National Security Council said.
Another former member of the NSC — which advises the president on foreign policy and national security matters — said the institution is strained, pointing to deep suspicions of the NSC within both Trump administrations as well as the Biden administration.
“Arguably what the NSC has done best in the last 40 years is build the post-9/11 security state and carry out the Iraq and Afghanistan wars — all of which is deeply unpopular on a bipartisan basis now,” the former member said. “Couple that with a Clinton-era failure to effectively manage the end of the Cold War and recognize the rise of stateless terrorism, the track record really doesn’t look good.”
The sudden changes came three weeks after Rubio took over the national security adviser role, replacing Mike Waltz, who was pushed out of the post and nominated as ambassador to the United Nations. That move was driven by a perception that Waltz didn’t vet staff enough, a lack of fit between Waltz and the rest of the team, and Waltz’s involvement in setting up a Signal group chat that inadvertently included a reporter, CBS News reported at the time.
It’s the latest upheaval at Mr. Trump’s NSC. Last month, at least a half dozen staffers were fired shortly after right-wing media personality Laura Loomer accused them of being insufficiently loyal to Mr. Trump, CBS News previously reported.
There is no date set for Rubio to depart the dual-hatted national security position. He told CBS News on Sunday that he has no departure date or time frame for a departure.