Robert O'Brien
Robert O’Brien was Trump’s National Security Advisor from 2019 - 2021, where he purged more than 60 policy staffers to root out what Trump called “snakes.” Per the NYT, O’Brien would open National Security Council meetings by distributing printouts of Trump’s latest tweets, which signaled that the meeting attendees’ job was to find ways of justifying, enacting, or explaining Trump’s policy. Per ABC, Trump’s chief of the DHS intelligence agency claimed O’Brien instructed personnel “to cease providing intelligence assessments on the threat of Russian interference in the U.S., and instead start reporting on interference activities by China and Iran.”
O’Brien’s tenure was marked by unyielding loyalty to Trump, even on which foreign nations to focus on or not: whistleblower Brian Murphy testified to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence that O’Brien instructed him “to cease providing intelligence assessments on the threat of Russian interference in the United States, and instead start reporting on interference activities by China and Iran.” In 2016, O’Brien had stated “It’s clear that Vladimir Putin just doesn’t like [Hillary Clinton], and is going to do what he can to help Donald Trump.”
After Trump was sworn in, O’Brien was under consideration to be Secretary of the Navy, a role he did not get. He officially joined the administration in May 2018, when he was appointed as the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, a role he served in until October 2019 when he succeeded John Bolton as Trump’s National Security Advisor.
As National Security Advisor, O’Brien defended President Trump’s most controversial moves, including pardoning an ex-Navy SEAL convicted for war crimes, killing a top Iranian general via drone strike—a violation of international law according to the UN–and banning travel from China and other countries at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He also was one of the three officials with Trump for his notorious photo opportunity in front of St. John’s Episcopal church after Trump demanded that peaceful protestors in Lafayette Square Park be forcibly cleared—a moment O’Brien has never publicly distanced himself from. In response to nationwide protests against the murder of George Floyd, O’Brien added large scale protests (which had become a new 2020 campaign focus for Trump) to the National Security Council’s priorities. O’Brien also promoted Trump’s military record during taxpayer-funded domestic trips to swing states.
O’Brien also slashed the number of NSC staff down to approximately 110, less than half of the expert capacity under the Obama administration, a move widely criticized as politically motivated for Trump, as the vast majority of cuts appeared to be aimed at career staff experts on detail from other national security agencies.
Prior to joining the Trump administration, O’Brien was a lawyer specializing in international arbitration and litigation, along with advising presidential campaigns (including Mitt Romney) and several stints of government service in mid-level roles. For example, he was co-chairman of the U.S. Department of State Public-Private Partnership for Justice Reform in Afghanistan under both Secretaries of State Rice and Clinton.
O’Brien previously worked as the managing partner of Arent Fox LLP’s California operations. In January 2016, he left that law firm to co-found Larson O’Brien LLP, in Los Angeles, a partnership he held until he joined the Trump administration.
After Trump’s term ended, O’Brien launched an international consulting and advisory firm, American Global Strategies. In 2022, he was also elected chairman of the board of directors of the Richard Nixon Foundation. He reportedly considered a 2024 presidential run, but decided, “It’s not for me on the elected side,” and considered running for Mitt Romney’s U.S. Senate seat, but opted not to run for that seat to represent Utah either.
O’Brien is an active pundit for Trump, using media and publications to defend Trump’s foreign policy agenda and map out actions. For example, in a July 2024 op-ed in Foreign Affairs, O’Brien writes that if Trump were to return to the White House, he should sever all economic ties with China, “consider deploying the entire Marine Corps” to Asia, and resume live nuclear testing. O’Brien has also recently doubled-down on his push for the U.S. to bomb Taiwan’ chip facilities if China were to invade Taiwan. In May 2024, he also traveled to Israel and met with Prime Minister Netanyahu and Minister of Defense Gallant.
In 2016, O’Brien published a book called “While America Slept: Restoring American Leadership to a World in Crisis,” which seemed to influence Trump’s view of foreign policy. But some were critical of O’Brien’s analysis. For example, Alex Ward of the Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security, which is part of the prestigious Atlantic Council, complained that O’Brien’s approach was “frustrating because it starts with the assumption that all of Obama’s foreign policy choices are bad and assumes the reader believes this as well…[H]is analysis, while passionately and decently argued, missed the bigger picture through the partisan fog.”