Trump purges US National Security Council - FT

US President Donald Trump has drastically reduced the White House National Security Council, firing a number of officials and sending others on administrative leave. This was reported by UNN with reference to the Financial Times.

Details

Several people familiar with the situation regarding the dismissals said that the National Security Council, which is temporarily headed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, retained some of the staff. We are talking mainly about senior directors. At the same time, dozens of positions were cut.

This move, which some officials are already calling a "liquidation", was carried out three weeks after the US President fired Mike Waltz as his first national security advisor, the highest position in the National Security Council.

Officials who lost their jobs were notified of the layoffs on Friday afternoon. This step took place after weeks of rumors about an imminent purge in the National Security Council.

Chief of Staff of the National Security Council Brian McCormack sent an email to officials to inform them that they had 30 minutes to collect their belongings from their desks and leave the National Security Council building, which is located next to the White House.

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Three people familiar with the dismissals said that Senior Director for Asia Ivan Kanapati remained, but his entire team, including his China staff, was fired.

Robert O'Brien, who served as National Security Advisor in the first Trump administration, recently wrote an article calling for the National Security Council to be reduced to approximately 60 officials. The National Security Council, which traditionally served as a coordinating body but was sometimes used to centralize power in the White House, had more than 200 officials during the Biden administration.

"There is no doubt that the National Security Council in the Biden administration has swollen and arbitrarily tried to implement foreign policy, instead of fulfilling its traditional role of coordinating its implementation by the rest of the national security establishment," said Dennis Wilder, a former senior National Security Council official in the George W. Bush administration.

According to several people, Trump also disbanded most of the National Security Council directorate, which oversaw technology and national security policy. Earlier, the US President fired David Feith, who headed this office, created during the Biden administration.

This directorate played an important role in creating export controls, which were intended to make it much more difficult for China to obtain advanced American technologies that could strengthen its army.

The National Security Council did not comment on the situation. But National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said he would remain in office and "continue to serve the administration."

Supplement

FBI The US liquidated a unit that monitored compliance with surveillance rules amid debate in Congress over a law on wiretapping without warrants. The decision was supported by FBI Director Kash Patel.