National Security Council Will Be Cut by Half
Marco Rubio, the secretary of state who is also serving as the national security adviser, on Friday revealed a significant restructuring of the National Security Council, reducing the size by at least half, according to a person with knowledge of the move.
The dramatic changes involve a combination of officials from other agencies returning to their original offices, as well as others being placed on administrative leave, effective immediately, said the person, who was not authorized to speak publicly. Some of the teams on the N.S.C. that focus on specific regions or issues will be gutted, while others will be collapsed and folded into others. Still other teams will cease to exist.
Andy Baker, Vice President JD Vance's national security adviser, will serve as the deputy for the reconfigured N.S.C., alongside Robert Gabriel, whose current title is assistant to the president for policy.
The changes were reported earlier by Axios.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The dramatic downsizing comports with President Trump's view of how foreign policy debates should be conducted: from the top down, with advisers taking the president's desired outcomes and finding a way to comply with them. Past presidents have used the N.S.C. in different ways, but generally it has served as a coordinating body across departments for key policy discussions and decisions.
The N.S.C. has a core staff of presidential appointees supported by dozens of specialists who are detailed — or essentially on loan — from other departments and agencies across the government.
Mr. Trump also has held a deep distrust for and suspicion of the N.S.C. since the earliest days of his first term, in 2017. People who have worked for him over time say he believes it was the source of significant undermining of his policy views.
Mr. Trump's first of two impeachments involved testimony before Congress from Alexander Vindman, the director of European Affairs at the N.S.C., about the president pressing the then newly elected Ukrainian leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, for an investigation into Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his family. At the time, Mr. Biden was one of Mr. Trump's chief potential rivals in the 2020 election.
In early April, Mr. Trump fired several N.S.C. aides after a meeting with the far-right activist Laura Loomer, who presented him with a list of people she suspected of disloyalty.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
9 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Republican NJ governor candidates focus on budget waste, immigration, Trump
New Jersey voters in both parties have begun to vote to select their nominees for governor in the June 10 primary election. This spring, the USA TODAY Network New Jersey Editorial Board convened conversations with nearly all of the major candidates. We talked broadly about their campaigns, their agendas if nominated and elected and about the impact of the administration of President Donald Trump. Here are thoughts and impressions about candidates in the Republican field, presented alphabetically: State Sen Jon Bramnick, first elected to the Assembly in 2003 and its longtime Republican leader, was elected to the upper chamber in 2021. Bramnick, 72, is a Plainfield attorney and was the first Republican to enter the race for governor. An avowed Never-Trumper, Bramnick said that, when appropriate, he would continue some of the state's ongoing legal challenges that seek to block parts of the administration's policy agenda. He also said he would call on the New Jersey congressional delegation to protect Medicaid coverage for the state's most vulnerable residents. Bramnick's campaign is designed to appeal to moderates in both parties who are concerned about New Jersey's tax burden and want to see the Garden State's economy grow. 'My feeling is we need balance. I don't believe in this one-party system. Now, you've had the Democrats control the Legislature for 20 years. And now you've had a Democratic governor for seven years. It doesn't work. What you want is balance because most people in New Jersey are in the middle.' Bramnick is focused, too, on fixing New Jersey's housing crisis and suggested to the USA TODAY Network New Jersey Editorial Board that he would work with developers across the state to locate large tracts of land on which to construct affordable single-family and multi-family units to meet market demand. Bramnick also outlined positions on reconfiguring the state budget to better fund NJ Transit, said he would work to reconfigure the state's complex school funding formula and suggested that he would regularly take questions from the public and from members of the Legislature if elected. Jack Ciattarelli, a former state Assemblyman who lives in Somerville, nearly ousted Gov. Phil Murphy in the 2021 election. It was immediately clear that Ciattarelli, a sometime contributor to the opinion pages of the USA TODAY Network New Jersey, would seek his party's nomination again this year. Ciattarelli, who once dismissed President Donald Trump as a "charlatan," earned the president's endorsement earlier this month. While Ciattarelli has positioned himself as a right-of-center moderate in earlier campaigns, this year, he has embraced the MAGA mood that holds grip over large swaths of the Republican primary electorate. "The president's trying to hit the reset button," Ciattarelli said, pointing to Trump's efforts to stem the federal deficit and rebalance global trade. In conversations with the USA TODAY Network New Jersey Editorial Board, Ciattarelli said New Jersey faced "an affordability crisis, a public safety crisis, a public education crisis" and also expressed deep concern about overdevelopment and housing affordability. To address affordability, Ciattarelli outlined specific proposals to tackle the school funding formula and said the state, on his watch, would fund special education across the state. He also called for a unified state department to oversee all of the state's transportation infrastructure, including NJ Transit, the Garden State Parkway and the New Jersey Turnpike. Ciattarelli said he would also conduct a broad review of state spending with an eye toward trimming the budget as broadly as possible. On energy, Ciattarelli put the blame for forthcoming utility rate hikes squarely on Gov. Phil Murphy and the Democratic Legislature and said he would work quickly to stand up natural gas generation. He also said he would explore expanding the state's existing nuclear footprint. Bill Spadea, the longtime NJ 101.5 radio personality who lives in Princeton, is a stalwart supporter of President Donald Trump. Spadea and his campaign did not respond to invitations to sit with the USA TODAY Network New Jersey Editorial Board. Spadea has said his campaign is aimed at stemming New Jersey's affordability crisis, addressing what he calls an epidemic of illegal immigration and slowing down housing development that he says imperils New Jersey's suburban communities. Immigration, he has said, is his top priority. 'We're going to rescind the 2018 executive order and get rid of the sanctuary state. We're going to rescind the 2019 Immigrant Trust Directive,' he said. 'We're going to issue a series of executive orders … to stop phase four of this high-density housing nonsense that is crushing our suburban communities." Former Englewood Cliffs Mayor Mario Kranjac and Justin Barbera, a Burlington County contractor, are also on the June 10 primary ballot but did not meet various qualifications to participate in debates this spring. This article originally appeared on NJ governor 2025: Republican candidates focus on waste, immigration
Yahoo
9 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Video shows suspect of Colorado antisemitic attack
Eight people were injured in what officials are describing an antisemitic attack in Boulder, Colorado. The suspect in custody, identified as 45-year-old Mohamed Sabry Soliman, allegedly used a makeshift flamethrower and threw an incendiary device into the crowd. He also yelled 'Free Palestine,' according to the FBI.
Yahoo
13 minutes ago
- Yahoo
8 People Burned, Suspect in Custody After Attack with ‘Makeshift Flamethrower' at Israeli Hostage Rally in Colorado
Eight people were injured in an attack at a mall in Colorado on Sunday, June 1 Boulder Police said witnesses reported that the suspect — who is now in custody — threw a 'makeshift flamethrower' at a group of people and yelled "Free Palestine" According to CBS News, the group were taking part in a march in support of Israeli hostages, with the FBI now investigating the attack as "an act of terrorism" An attack at a mall in Colorado involving a flamethrower has left eight people injured. In a news release, Boulder Police said the attack — aimed at a 'group of individuals' — took place at the Pearl Street Mall on Sunday, June 1. 'Witnesses reported that the suspect used a makeshift flame thrower and threw an incendiary device into the crowd,' the release read. 'The suspect was also heard to yell 'Free Palestine' during the attack.' 'The individuals were walking in a regularly scheduled, weekly peaceful event,' the release continued, with CBS News reporting that those injured were taking part in a march in support of Israeli hostages, citing an FBI official. The eight injured were taken to Denver metro hospitals. The victims include four men and four women, aged between 52 and 88, per the release. The FBI is investigating the attack on the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder with @BoulderPolice as an act of terrorism. If you have info please call 1-800-CALL-FBI. If you have digital media -- videos, social media posts, recordings -- please upload it at — FBI Denver (@FBIDenver) June 2, 2025 Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. According to CBS News, citing an FBI official, the suspect threw Molotov cocktails that burned multiple victims. The suspect, who is now in custody, has been identified as Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, of El Paso County. 'He was taken to the hospital to be medically evaluated before being booked in the Boulder County Jail on multiple charges,' per the release. The FBI is also investigating the attack. In a post on X, the agency said they were investigating the attack as "an act of terrorism." Read the original article on People
