Trump names State Dept official Robert O’Brien as national security advisor, replacing John Bolton

* Hostage negotiator Robert O’Brien, who has a history in
Republican foreign policy circles, will replace John
Bolton.

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday named hostage negotiator
Robert O’Brien as the new White House national security
adviser.

O’Brien, who currently serves as the special presidential envoy
for hostage affairs at the State Department, has a long history in
Republican foreign policy circles.

He will be Trump’s fourth national security adviser, replacing
John Bolton, the hawkish national security adviser the president
forced out last week. Trump said he and Bolton “strongly disagreed”
on a number of issues including North Korea and Venezuela.

“I have worked long and hard with Robert,” Trump tweeted in his
announcement of the replacement. “He will do a great job!”

I am pleased to announce that I will name
Robert C. O’Brien, currently serving as the very successful Special
Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs at the State Department, as
our new National Security Advisor. I have worked long & hard
with Robert. He will do a great job!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 18, 2019^[1]

Trump’s announcement comes as the US considers its response to
Saturday’s attacks on Saudi Arabian oil facilities.

It also comes less than a month after Trump abruptly ended talks
with the Taliban aimed at starting the process of ending 18 years
of war in Afghanistan.

O’Brien is a lawyer from Los Angeles who has served as a foreign
policy adviser to several Republican presidential campaigns,
handled a number of prominent legal cases and previously served in
several State Department positions.

From 2008 through 2011, O’Brien was a presidentially appointed
member of a government committee that advises on issues related to
the trafficking of antiquities and other cultural items. In 2005,
President George W Bush nominated O’Brien to be US Representative
to the UN General Assembly, where he worked with Bolton.

He also was an adviser on the Republican presidential campaigns
of former Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin, former Governor Mitt
Romney of Massachusetts and Senator Ted Cruz.

Earlier in his career, O’Brien was a senior legal officer for
the UN Security Council commission that decided claims against Iraq
that arose from the Gulf War. He was a major in the US Army
Reserve.

O’Brien was among five job candidates Trump said on Tuesday were
under consideration.

His previous national security advisers were HR McMaster, who
was replaced by Bolton in March 2018, and Michael Flynn, who was
fired shortly after taking the role and later pleaded guilty to
lying to the FBI.

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