National Security Council expected to be overhauled under Rubio

A significant overhaul of the National Security Council at the White House is expected in the coming days, including a staff reduction and a reinforced top-down approach with decision-making concentrated at the highest levels, three senior Trump administration officials told CNN. Staffed by dozens of foreign policy experts from across the US government, the NSC typically serves as a critical body for coordinating the president’s foreign policy agenda. But under President Donald Trump, the NSC’s role has been diminished, with the pending overhaul expected to further reduce its importance in the White House. “NSC as we know it is done,” an administration official said. Multiple sources said they anticipate the shake-up of the White House’s national security apparatus to take place once Trump’s Middle East tour this week is done. From the onset of the Trump administration, building out the NSC was an arduous process because of strict background checks that prioritized loyalty to Trump over everything else. And even after people were hired many were swiftly fired in a series of purges since Trump took office. These days, there is little in the way of meetings that shape the president’s national security agenda, one official said. And for those still there, to keep their jobs some current NSC staffers are being re-interviewed by the Office of the Presidential Personnel as the reshaping process remains fluid, three sources said. Most recently, national security adviser Mike Waltz was ousted from his role and nominated to be Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations. The changes have come as the president and his closest advisers, including White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, have grown increasingly frustrated with how the NSC has operated in Trump’s first few months in office. Skepticism toward the NSC became even more pronounced after Waltz inadvertently added a journalist to a messaging app group chat about highly sensitive military strikes in Yemen. With Waltz possibly headed to New York to be Trump’s UN ambassador, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been tapped as interim national security adviser. He and special envoy Steve Witkoff were already dominating Trump’s foreign policy agenda, with Waltz sometimes edged out, sources say. Rubio’s personal perspective on how the NSC should operate is unclear, but sources close to the White House say that keeping a small staff will be a necessity if Rubio wants to stay in the good graces of Trump’s inner circle. “The influential players in Trump’s White House believe that the NSC is a bureaucratic impediment,” said a Republican lawmaker who has had regular meetings with the NSC in recent months, noting that Rubio will have to follow the lead of players such as White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and Sergio Gor, who runs the White House personnel office. The future of Waltz’s deputy, Alex Wong, remains unclear. Multiple sources say that Wong is expected to be pushed out even though he continues to lead the NSC day-to-day for now, under Rubio. Still, Wong was integral to Trump’s engagements with North Korea during his first term, so other sources say that Trump may opt to keep him in some capacity due to that experience. NBC News reported the expected overhaul of the NSC on Wednesday. The overhaul comes as the administration faces a wide range of foreign policy challenges, including bringing the Ukraine war to an end; striking an Iran nuclear deal; seeking a ceasefire in Gaza and developing a comprehensive China policy on the heels of an intense trade war between the two countries. One senior administration official defended the impending shake-up, noting that recently Republicans have run a much smaller NSC than democrats. Conversations regarding who will eventually lead the NSC, and how the president wants to reshape the way it operates, are ongoing, two of the officials told CNN. The president has come to view Rubio as a key operator on all of his foreign dealings and initially selected him to replace Waltz because much of his portfolio at the State Department has overlapped with that of the national security adviser. Rubio, who has told people close to him he is preparing to stay in the role for up to six months, has been relying on State Department aides to help with his new portfolio at the NSC, according to one senior administration official and a State Department official. A Senior State Department official said that all discussions regarding the NSC are a work in progress, but acknowledged that a slimming of the foreign policy apparatus is likely. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau has been asked to take on more State Department duties over the last few weeks, the State Department official said, specifically related to the handling of calls with counterparts, meetings and some future travel. The State Department official added that there is “no clear direction” as to how it is all going to work. “They have to get through this (Middle East) trip first,” the person said. The departures have only deepened the chill among the staff at the NSC, which has many looking for an exit. A previous purge was triggered by pressure on Trump from Laura Loomer, a far-right activist who once claimed 9/11 was an inside job. Rubio heads directly from the president’s trip to join a NATO foreign ministers meeting in Antalya, Turkey, this week. But while he is in Turkey, Rubio will attend the first round of Russia-Ukraine talks and meet with the Syrian foreign minister, Trump announced in Saudi Arabia.