page_title: Robert C. O'Brien
section_title: Trump administration
hierarchical_section_title: Robert C. O'Brien / Political career / Trump administration
caption_attribution_description: U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo officiates the swearing-in ceremony for Robert C. O'Brien as Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. on July 17, 2018. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]
context_page_description: Robert Charles O'Brien Jr. is an American lawyer serving as the 28th United States National Security Advisor since 2019. He is the fourth person to hold that position during the presidency of Donald Trump.
context_section_description: In 2017, O'Brien was under consideration by the Donald Trump administration to serve as Secretary of the Navy. The Orange County Register editorial board endorsed O'Brien to serve in this position, stating, "He is the ideal candidate to ensure American global dominance continues—in a way that fits both the present national mood and our enduring national values."
  From May 25, 2018 to October 3, 2019, O'Brien served as the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs. He was given the rank of ambassador one year after his appointment. He attended the trial of the American rapper ASAP Rocky in Stockholm, Sweden and told reporters "The president sent me here, so it's totally appropriate. I also help free people that are held by governments, so unjustly detained Americans." O'Brien had written the Swedish government warning of "negative consequences" if the case was not resolved. He "helped secure the 2018 release of American pastor Andrew Brunson, whose two-year imprisonment in Turkey heightened tensions between Washington and Ankara." O'Brien was also involved in obtaining the release of Danny Burch, an American oil worker held in Yemen for a year, and who ultimately received an Oval Office meeting with President Trump.
  O'Brien took office as the 28th United States National Security Advisor on September 18, 2019. President Trump appointed O'Brien to succeed John Bolton, who resigned earlier that month. A few days later, O'Brien announced that Matthew Pottinger would become the deputy national security advisor, replacing Charles Kupperman in that role. O'Brien was seen as a traditional foreign policy conservative rather than a firebrand.
  Early in his tenure, O'Brien accompanied Vice President Mike Pence to meet Turkish President Recep Erdogan in efforts to achieve a ceasefire between Turkey and Kurdish forces in Syria after the U.S. abruptly withdrew military forces that stood between Turkish and Kurdish forces.
  In December 2019, O'Brien defended Trump's decision to pardon Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher, a convicted war criminal who was alleged by multiple fellow Navy SEALs of shooting innocent civilians and of murdering a sedated injured teenage ISIS fighter.
  After the Trump administration's strike against Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and commander of its Quds Force, O'Brien defended the intelligence the administration used to justify the killing, arguing that Soleimani had been planning attacks on U.S. military and diplomatic installations in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East.
  O'Brien was named to the White House Coronavirus Task Force when it was established on January 29, 2020. He took a low profile in responding to the pandemic. In July 2020, he was reported to have contracted the virus.
  The National Security Council under O'Brien took a greater focus on China, and he aligned himself with Peter Navarro, a fellow hardliner on China. He threatened sanctions against China if it moved to pass a national security law that pro-democracy activists believed would undermine freedom in Hong Kong. O'Brien also criticized China for its actions amid territorial disputes in the South China Sea, and oversaw an increase in U.S. and allied military activity intended to guarantee freedom of navigation. O'Brien criticized China's government, saying in a speech that "The Chinese Communist Party is Marxist-Leninist," and "The party General Secretary Xi Jinping sees himself as Josef Stalin’s successor." In the same speech, he asserted: "Together with our allies and partners, we will resist the Chinese Communist Party's efforts to manipulate our people and our governments, damage our economies, and undermine our sovereignty."
  As plans emerged to reduce the number of U.S. military forces stationed in Europe, O'Brien defended the move, arguing, "The Cold War practice of garrisoning large numbers of troops with their families on massive bases in places like Germany is now, in part, obsolete."
  When many other intelligence officials who had been involved in briefing Trump on national security characte
caption: O'Brien sworn in as Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs in 2018
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