The Administration Takes a Hatchet to the NSC
President Donald Trump has been gunning for the NSC since 2019, during his first term in office, when two staffers filed a whistleblower complaint about his call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and got him impeached. On Friday, White House officials told Axios that the NSC is plagued by unnecessary committees and meetings that slow down decision making, and that the council is a needless check on the president's power. One official called the NSC 'the ultimate Deep State. It's Marco vs. the Deep State. We're gutting the Deep State.'
That is a very strange way to characterize the arm of the government that exists to make sure the others are carrying out the president's agenda. In dismantling the NSC, Trump is not only removing part of his government's brain but creating real risk should a crisis strike. That's because the council has two core functions based in congressional statute: One is to advise the president on national security and foreign policy, and the other is to coordinate the work of agencies and departments in executing the policies he chooses.
So why do Trump officials think the NSC staff is unnecessary or harmful? The one quoted by Axios went on to say: 'If you have officials fighting each other and their agencies always involved in turf wars, you maybe need this process. That's not what you have here. Rubio, Bessent, Hegseth, Bondi—all of them know each other and like each other, and they know they're there to execute the president's will.'
[Read: Inside the fiasco at the National Security Council]
It is nice to hear that Trump officials all get along, and that the rumors to the contrary are false. But the point of the NSC process is not simply to resolve clashes of personality. I served in the NSC for almost three years under President Joe Biden, as the head of the strategic-planning directorate, and I had a bird's-eye view of the entire bureaucratic process.
No one loves committees, but that doesn't mean they're unnecessary. In a typical week, a committee of deputy Cabinet secretaries meets two or three times in the Situation Room, to discuss issues of the highest priority to the president. No phones or electronic devices are allowed. Lower-level committees meet to prepare groundwork. Occasionally, if significant differences emerge among departments, Cabinet officials will meet—imagine the Houthi-strike Signal group, but in a classified space, with real preparation.
This doesn't involve as many people as you might think. The NSC policy staff stood at 186 at the end of Biden's term, larger than in Trump's first term but smaller than under George W. Bush or Barack Obama. These people are spread across about 20 different directorates, and drawn from across the government. Some directorates are charged with covering different regions or specific issues: technology, energy, intelligence, defense. Most of the people let go on Friday were career civil servants working in these directorates.
The White House briefings implied that these people were the tools of the 'deep state,' sent to slow down the decision-making process and work against the president from the inside. But no one is sent to the NSC in that sense. The president and his national security adviser appoint the council's senior directors. These political appointees then pick directors to work on their teams—usually civil servants with the type of expertise and skills they believe the president will need to implement his agenda. The directorates often take the president's overarching ideas and convert them into nuts-and-bolts policy: AUKUS (the pact with Australia and the U.K. on nuclear-powered submarines), key elements of the CHIPS Act (which invested in the domestic manufacturing of semiconductors), the effort to roll back China's overseas bases, and the technology-export controls on China all originated in the NSC.
The NSC is a crucial tool for the president in a moment of crisis. Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, for example, called for a policy response spanning much of the U.S. government. The Biden administration's policy mobilized sanctions, weapons, diplomacy, and intelligence cooperation; it required coordination or communication with Europe, China, the Middle East, Congress, and the press. To make all of this happen, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met daily with senior NSC staffers, not only to solve immediate problems, but also to figure out what more could be done to advance the president's objectives. The NSC was behind the move to get Ukraine sufficient numbers of air-defense missiles; it came up with an inventive scheme to generate funds for Ukraine out of Russian sovereign assets without seizing them outright; and it recommended the strategic declassification of intelligence to pressure Russia.
Trump, of course, could use his NSC to advance very different goals than Biden did. That's as it should be. But he has opted instead to divest himself of this tool. He has a few senior directors left—an unspecified number were fired on Friday, and others have been let go over the past couple of months—and each oversees a massive portfolio. The Europe directorate alone covers about 50 countries, including Russia and Turkey. These senior directors are now largely on their own. They have hardly anyone to draft policy guidance, review speeches, or be the first point of contact for embassies.
Those who oppose Trump may welcome these cuts, precisely because they reduce the ability of this president to destroy and remake U.S. foreign policy. Decimating the NSC removes a layer of White House oversight from the departments engaged in foreign affairs, which could mean strengthening them relative to Trump: If Rubio is truly a temporary national security adviser, there for just six months, the gutting of the NSC will weaken his successor and strengthen his influence as secretary of state. The Pentagon, Treasury Department, Department of Homeland Security, Central Intelligence Agency, and other agencies could likewise set up their own mini–foreign policies, each based on the Cabinet secretary's interpretation of what they heard from the president, whether in a meeting, a side conversation, or a Truth Social post.
Not only would this produce a chaotic and likely ineffective U.S. foreign policy, but the administration could run into some serious trouble with contingency planning. The NSC staff normally flags things that could go wrong and pulls together high-level working groups called 'tiger teams' to prepare plans for worst-case scenarios. The Biden administration ran tiger teams for Ukraine, various Taiwan scenarios, and a widening of the war in the Middle East. At least one looming crisis now deserves that type of attention.
[Read: Inside the fight over Trump's foreign policy]
On April 1 and 2, China carried out a maritime exercise called Strait-Thunder 2025A, for a quarantine of Taiwan and attacks on its military installations. Senior officials in the U.S. and allied nations saw this as a clear warning that China may be preparing a major action short of an invasion against Taiwan. It could, for example, impose a customs zone on Taiwan, whereby Beijing would control everything going in and out of it. The United States depends on Taiwan for semiconductor chips vital to the AI race—something the Trump administration is particularly concerned abou—and a quarantine or customs zone would wreak havoc with that.
In any other administration, the NSC would run a tiger team for such an eventuality. Two senior directors would convene senior officials from all departments and the military, who would then come up with options for deterring China from taking any such action, for making sure the U.S. gets advance notice if China does act, and for responding in a manner that would frustrate China's effort. The team would consider sanctions, diplomacy, and military options. It would scrutinize the plans of the departments. Deputies and principals would then discuss the tiger team's plan and make adjustments. If China struck, America would be as ready as it could be.
The kind of coordination the NSC provides, whether in anticipating crises or responding to them, does not happen automatically, even when Cabinet officials get along with one another. And no single department or agency can replace the NSC's role, because none has a sufficient overview of the whole field, or of all the tools the U.S. government can bring to bear. If one department did take the lead over all the others, it would likely be biased in favor of using the tools it controls and advancing its institutional interests.
Trump seems to think that he doesn't need any of this, that he knows what to do in any circumstance and doesn't need 'options' and 'recommendations' served up to him. In his mind, he just needs a small team to carry out his orders. But if China makes a move against Taiwan, especially if it is novel and unexpected, Trump may find himself asking what choices he has. If the plans have not been prepared, he will not be able to choose among them. Instead, the country will be dangerously exposed, relying solely on the president's gut instinct on a subject he knows little about.
Article originally published at The Atlantic
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
4 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq futures rise after US strikes a trade deal with Japan
US stock futures stepped higher on Wednesday after the US struck a trade deal with Japan and Wall Street readied for Tesla (TSLA) and Alphabet (GOOGL, GOOG) earnings. Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F) rose roughly 0.3%, while S&P 500 futures (ES=F) moved up 0.2% on the heels of the benchmark ekeing out another record closing high. Contracts on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) edged up 0.1%. Trump posted on Truth Social on Tuesday evening, 'We just completed a massive Deal with Japan, perhaps the largest Deal ever made." The president said that the agreement includes a 15% tariff on imported goods from Japan. Read more: The latest on Trump's tariffs Google-parent Alphabet and Tesla are set to kick off highly anticipated second-quarter results from the "Magnificent Seven" after the bell Wednesday. Tesla CEO Elon Musk's rocky relationship with Trump is looming large over the EV maker's earnings. With its stock down nearly 18% year-to-date, investors are watching for updates on the company's core auto business and its robotaxi rollout. With Alphabet, investors are looking for signs that AI investments are starting to pay off as the company pours billions into the technology. A federal judge's decision that could force the company to sell Google Chrome will also be in focus. Other earnings results set to land on Wednesday include Chipotle (CMG), which is expected to report its second straight quarter of declining sales, as well as AT&T (T), IBM (IBM), and Alaska Air (ALK). Japanese auto stocks surge as US announces lower-than-expected tariffs Shares of Japanese automakers pumped after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a trade deal with Japan, lowering the previously discussed 25% auto tariffs on Japanese vehicles to 15%. Honda (HMC) surged 9.8%, Toyota (TM) jumped 13.9%, Nissan (7222.T) gained over 5%, and Mazda (7261.T) soared 17.7%. Mitsubishi Motors (7211.T) rose over 12%. According to Japan's NHK, the revised tariff structure includes a 12.5% cut plus a 2.5% 'Most Favored Nation' base rate. The move comes as Japanese auto exports to the US have suffered, plunging 26.7% in June. Trump hailed the deal as the 'largest Deal ever,' claiming Japan would invest $550 billion in the US and allow greater access to its markets, including for American autos, trucks, and agricultural goods. Trending tickers in after-hours trading Texas Instruments, Inc. (TXN) Texas Instruments, a leading chipmaker with the broadest product list in the field, saw its share value drop over 11.6% in after-hours trading. The stock has seen 46% gains in the year to date following a boom in purchases with each wave of tariff announcements. The rapid cooling-off occurred when the executive team announced they were unaware how much of the increase in revenue had been dependent on consumers attempting to circumvent the hike in prices from Trump's tariffs. Enphase Energy, Inc. (ENPH) Solar equipment provider Enphase Energy saw a drop of over 7.2% in the company's stock value in extended trading. With 5% of the market share in the solar equipment field Enphase acts as an early indicator for the impact that Trump's removal of tax credits will have upon the industry. Enphase are pointing towards a 20% drop in the residential market. Read more here. Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI) Shares in semiconductor maker Analog Devices saw a drop of over 4.1% after-hours, erasing gains from the month so far. The company specializes in chips that convert real world input into electrical signals, processing sound, light, temperature, pressure and motion. Investors have been eyeing ADI's earnings reports, still not due for another month. Japanese auto stocks surge as US announces lower-than-expected tariffs Shares of Japanese automakers pumped after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a trade deal with Japan, lowering the previously discussed 25% auto tariffs on Japanese vehicles to 15%. Honda (HMC) surged 9.8%, Toyota (TM) jumped 13.9%, Nissan (7222.T) gained over 5%, and Mazda (7261.T) soared 17.7%. Mitsubishi Motors (7211.T) rose over 12%. According to Japan's NHK, the revised tariff structure includes a 12.5% cut plus a 2.5% 'Most Favored Nation' base rate. The move comes as Japanese auto exports to the US have suffered, plunging 26.7% in June. Trump hailed the deal as the 'largest Deal ever,' claiming Japan would invest $550 billion in the US and allow greater access to its markets, including for American autos, trucks, and agricultural goods. Shares of Japanese automakers pumped after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a trade deal with Japan, lowering the previously discussed 25% auto tariffs on Japanese vehicles to 15%. Honda (HMC) surged 9.8%, Toyota (TM) jumped 13.9%, Nissan (7222.T) gained over 5%, and Mazda (7261.T) soared 17.7%. Mitsubishi Motors (7211.T) rose over 12%. According to Japan's NHK, the revised tariff structure includes a 12.5% cut plus a 2.5% 'Most Favored Nation' base rate. The move comes as Japanese auto exports to the US have suffered, plunging 26.7% in June. Trump hailed the deal as the 'largest Deal ever,' claiming Japan would invest $550 billion in the US and allow greater access to its markets, including for American autos, trucks, and agricultural goods. Trending tickers in after-hours trading Texas Instruments, Inc. (TXN) Texas Instruments, a leading chipmaker with the broadest product list in the field, saw its share value drop over 11.6% in after-hours trading. The stock has seen 46% gains in the year to date following a boom in purchases with each wave of tariff announcements. The rapid cooling-off occurred when the executive team announced they were unaware how much of the increase in revenue had been dependent on consumers attempting to circumvent the hike in prices from Trump's tariffs. Enphase Energy, Inc. (ENPH) Solar equipment provider Enphase Energy saw a drop of over 7.2% in the company's stock value in extended trading. With 5% of the market share in the solar equipment field Enphase acts as an early indicator for the impact that Trump's removal of tax credits will have upon the industry. Enphase are pointing towards a 20% drop in the residential market. Read more here. Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI) Shares in semiconductor maker Analog Devices saw a drop of over 4.1% after-hours, erasing gains from the month so far. The company specializes in chips that convert real world input into electrical signals, processing sound, light, temperature, pressure and motion. Investors have been eyeing ADI's earnings reports, still not due for another month. Texas Instruments, Inc. (TXN) Texas Instruments, a leading chipmaker with the broadest product list in the field, saw its share value drop over 11.6% in after-hours trading. The stock has seen 46% gains in the year to date following a boom in purchases with each wave of tariff announcements. The rapid cooling-off occurred when the executive team announced they were unaware how much of the increase in revenue had been dependent on consumers attempting to circumvent the hike in prices from Trump's tariffs. Enphase Energy, Inc. (ENPH) Solar equipment provider Enphase Energy saw a drop of over 7.2% in the company's stock value in extended trading. With 5% of the market share in the solar equipment field Enphase acts as an early indicator for the impact that Trump's removal of tax credits will have upon the industry. Enphase are pointing towards a 20% drop in the residential market. Read more here. Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI) Shares in semiconductor maker Analog Devices saw a drop of over 4.1% after-hours, erasing gains from the month so far. The company specializes in chips that convert real world input into electrical signals, processing sound, light, temperature, pressure and motion. Investors have been eyeing ADI's earnings reports, still not due for another month. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
4 minutes ago
- Yahoo
The director of national intelligence's assertions about what's coming next didn't really add up.
Tulsi Gabbard teased the release of 'further documents tomorrow' after Barack Obama's office firmly shut down her 'ridiculous' claims that he conspired to subvert the 2016 election. The director of national intelligence appeared on Newsmax Tuesday night to defend her allegations against Obama administration officials, after various analyses cast them as deeply misleading and thin. She dropped a report on Friday claiming to have uncovered a 'treasonous conspiracy' by Obama-era officials to play up Russian election interference claims that 'laid the groundwork for a years-long coup' against Trump. Obama's office issued a rare rebuke on Tuesday, dismissing the allegations as 'ridiculous' and a weak attempt at distraction' as MAGA is roiled by the Jeffrey Epstein controversy.


Politico
6 minutes ago
- Politico
House Dems Find Their Mojo With the Epstein Saga
In the middle is Trump, who once had a well-documented friendship with Epstein and who has been referenced in court documents surrounding the now deceased financier — though who is not accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein. Trump has tried to smother the controversy, even scolding his supporters for obsessing. 'Everyone's always talking about Trump being 'Teflon' — obviously that's because all Hill Republicans are pretty much a suit of armor for him, right? But in this instance, they're not,' said a senior Democratic aide discussing the strategy. 'And so it exposes him, I think, to more attacks that otherwise would be brushed off — and makes it easier for us to drag his numbers down while creating chaos among the Republicans.' The most interesting part about the strategy is how organically it came together. After watching the MAGA-sphere melt down over the administration's announcement in early July that there was no 'client list,' Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) grabbed the issue, telling his colleagues that the matter was kryptonite for the GOP, according to people close to him. In the House Rules Committee, ranking Democrat Jim McGovern of Massachusetts and his team had similarly been watching the feeding frenzy with right-wing podcasters and influencers, sensing an opportunity to needle Republicans so clearly out of step with their own base. Khanna found an unexpected ally in libertarian gadfly Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), teaming up to launch a discharge petition that could let House members circumvent Johnson's attempt to keep the issue from a vote on the floor. Through it all, Democratic leaders were cheering on their members. Beyond giving Khanna tacit support to work with Massie, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries set the tone for members early last week. He insisted in press conferences and in private meetings that this issue was a lose-lose situation for Republicans: either Trump and his allies had been lying for years about what was in those files or they were right and were now hiding evidence to protect their cronies. For longtime Hill watchers like myself, Jeffries' embrace of the scandal was a surprise. As Axios wrote last week, Jeffries has been known for an 'often taciturn approach to salacious stories of the day, preferring to remain disciplined and on-message in his public communications.' But like his members, Jeffries sensed the Epstein scandal was different, insisting it could feed into a narrative of corruption that would resonate beyond just the Democratic base.