8 Pieces of Free Advice for Trump's National Security Team

New York Times

29-03-2025

This may be presumptuous, but it strikes me that the new administration's national security team could use some advice. I have worked with senior leaders through many administrations from both parties. I've seen firsthand how highly capable and skilled professionals have conducted themselves in these positions. So, Vice President JD Vance; Secretary of State Marco Rubio; Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth; Tulsi Gabbard, the director of the Office of National Intelligence; and Michael Waltz, the national security adviser: In the wake of Signalgate, here are some recommendations.
1. Trust Your People.
The military and civilian professionals assigned to you are very competent and possess deep knowledge about your organizations and national security. They want to help you succeed. My staff would have kept me from violating the rules you appear to have ignored or blundered through. If your staff knew you were sharing details of pending military operations on Signal, a commercially available app, and didn't stop you, that's a big problem. I'm assuming they weren't involved. Mr. Waltz, senior officials don't build their own chat groups. That should be done by support staff — if at all. I've worked with many of our senior military leaders. Many had extensive combat experience, including in missions not unlike those on March 15 targeting the Houthis. If they had known Signal was being used, or the nature of the communications being shared there, I cannot imagine that they would not have intervened. This is what happens when you disregard expertise.
2. Maintain the dignity and professionalism of your office.
All of you are under constant scrutiny. You are being judged by the American people, by those who report to you and by the world at large. Anything you do may be reported on by the media and recorded for posterity. This isn't about you — it's about the office you hold. You do a disservice to yourselves and to the nation when you conduct yourselves unprofessionally. Emojis are not professional. Using Signal for sensitive matters is not professional. Using childish insults to characterize a reporter is not professional. Airstrikes that kill people are serious business and should be treated as such. The authority to deploy the armed forces of the United States is an awesome and humbling responsibility. Demonstrate by your conduct and by how you communicate that you fully appreciate that fact.
3. Trust and use the systems.
All members of the national security team have extensive, sophisticated and secure communications systems standing by to support them 24/7, wherever they may be. In the case of the secretary of defense, there is both the National Military Command Center and the organization in the Pentagon known as 'cables,' where professionals stand by to set up one-on-one or group calls globally. Those systems can support any contingency up to and including a nuclear conflict. There is no good reason to ignore them.
4. Own obvious mistakes.
Denying that you did anything wrong just won't fly. You may deceive some of the public or your supporters into thinking you did nothing wrong, or that this was no big deal, but I can assure you that the people you lead all know better. Everyone in uniform, every member of the intelligence community and everyone in our diplomatic services — the people you lead — know that what you did was seriously wrong. They also know that if any of them had committed a similar offense they would have been fired or severely disciplined. When Airman Jack Teixeira revealed highly sensitive classified information to his online buddies, he was trying to impress them. He wasn't a spy, just stupid and immature. He is facing years in prison for civil offenses plus a military court-martial.
A phrase I heard occasionally in the Air Force was, 'We're not a one-mistake Air Force.' That meant we can make mistakes and then, instead of getting fired, be given the opportunity to learn and move on. My response to that was, 'It depends on the mistake.' In this case, by sheer good fortune (and the journalist's discretion), there was no apparent direct consequence to U.S. troops from your security breach. It was perhaps a rookie mistake made only two months into your various jobs, with no experience at these senior levels. That would make it more understandable. But if you want any chance of leading effectively, you need to own that you screwed up royally and won't repeat the mistake.
5. Don't exclude senior military personnel.
All the National Security Council meetings I've attended or known about at this level also included relevant senior military leaders, such as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs or the vice chairman and the relevant combatant commanders. I know that Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., who was fired as chairman by President Trump, would have ensured that any such conversation was done through approved channels and at the right level of security. And I'm sure that Adm. Christopher Grady, the acting chairman, would have done the same. Why were they excluded?
6. Understand you are always a target for spies.
The group of people on this Signal chat are probably, except for the president, the most targeted group of people for espionage on the planet. Our adversaries will use every means available to spy on you, including and especially trying to penetrate any commercial devices or applications you may be using. Never forget that for a second.
7. Don't embarrass the president or the country again.
If there is one deadly sin for political appointees, it is to embarrass the president. In every case I can remember, political appointees who break that rule have not stayed in office long. The current president may be less sensitive about this than those I have served under, but I expect some of you are pretty close to even his limit. I suggest that you take a more cautious approach.
8. Look at yourselves in the mirror.
You all hold positions of vast and awesome responsibility. Are your experiences and capabilities up to the jobs you hold? If not, you have a duty to the American people and to the president to acknowledge this and step aside. You might give that option some serious thought.