What President Trump Needs in His Next National Security Adviser Trump has ousted NSA Michael Waltz and tapped Marco Rubio as interim, signaling a businesslike, high-stakes push for loyalty, competence, and bold execution in national security. By Fred Fleitz
https://amgreatness.com/2025/05/09/what-president-trump-needs-in-his-next-national-security-adviser/
President Trump’s decision to remove Michael Waltz as his National Security Adviser (NSA) came as no surprise to Trump administration watchers who knew a change was coming. The president’s decision to nominate Waltz as UN ambassador was a classy way of taking care of a loyal supporter and decorated Army veteran who didn’t work out in a critical administration post.
Waltz’s ouster reflects how Trump runs the presidency as a business: he will not hesitate to replace officials who are not performing to his satisfaction or have lost his confidence. I expect Trump to be ruthless in managing top staff in his second term, as he has little time to enact an extremely ambitious agenda to take back our country.
By contrast, Joe Biden did not fire or replace any senior official in his four years as president. Notably, Biden failed to fire anyone after the disastrous U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, one of the worst foreign policy blunders in American history.
Trump added the acting NSA job to Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s portfolio. This is reportedly a temporary arrangement that could last six months.
The decision to dual-hat Rubio in these top national security posts was a sign of Trump’s confidence and trust in the former Florida senator. (Rubio is actually “quad-hatted”—he also serves as acting administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development and acting head of the National Archives and Records Administration.) However, as much as I respect Rubio and his capabilities, this is not an ideal situation due to the pressing responsibilities the Secretary of State must perform as America’s chief diplomat and the duties of the National Security Advisor, who serves as the top national security aide to the president and must be available to him 24/7.
Based on my experience as the National Security Council Chief of Staff and discussions with people inside and outside the Trump administration, I have come up with the following recommendations on what the president should look for in his next NSA. (I have a few more suggestions that I will pass to the president’s team privately.)
First, I believe the new NSA must be someone whom President Trump trusts, fully supports his America First/peace through strength approach to U.S. national security, and has a strong national security background. It goes without saying that this person will take steps to fully protect classified information and discussions.
The president must be confident that his new National Security Advisor will fight to promote his national security agenda and has a deep understanding of the major foreign threats facing our nation, such as the Ukraine War, the Israel-Gaza War, the Iranian nuclear program, the North Korean nuclear program, and securing the U.S. southern border.
The next NSA must also possess a comprehensive understanding of the existential threat that China poses to American and global security.
The second requirement is that the next National Security Adviser must effectively manage a first-rate National Security Council (NSC) staff that fully supports and aggressively promotes the president’s national security policies. The NSC needs the most talented people who support the Trump agenda. It is not a place to give people jobs as favors, nor can it be staffed with detailees from policy agencies who resist and leak against Trump’s policies.
The third requirement concerns the role the next NSA should play in the Trump administration policymaking. Traditionally, this position has been a “first among equals” as a high-level national security official and the president’s overseer of national security agencies and their leaders. This is not the right role for Trump’s next National Security Adviser.
The reason for this is due to significant differences in how President Trump is managing foreign policy in his second term. The president and the vice president are taking a much more hands-on approach to national security policymaking. Additionally, national security cabinet members with strong views on national security issues reportedly often engage directly with the president on these issues without the involvement of the NSA.
Due to this different approach to national security policymaking in the second Trump administration, some have questioned whether President Trump needs a national security advisor.
I believe he does, not just because the NSA must always be immediately available to the president in the White House and travels with him, but because this official represents the president to U.S. national security agencies and acts as an honest broker to resolve differences between them.
In the second Trump term, the new NSA should engage national security cabinet members as a coordinator and colleague, not an overseer. This would involve working productively with cabinet members to facilitate effective communication and cooperation on national security policy and ensuring that the president receives a full range of policy options.
The new NSA must also be prepared to forge a close and cooperative relationship with White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, who is closely involved in national security policymaking.
Finally, I believe the next National Security Adviser should emphasize a crucial element of President Trump’s America First approach to U.S. national security: keeping the United States out of new and unnecessary wars, especially with Iran.
I am very concerned that some Trump supporters are in a rush to bomb Iran to destroy its nuclear weapons program. Such a course of action would have severe repercussions. A large-scale bombing campaign against Iran’s nuclear weapons program could release radiation and set off massive fires. This bombing also probably would spark a new war with Iran and cause it to fire missiles and drones against Israel, America’s Arabian Gulf allies, and U.S. troops in the region.
I believe the next NSA should stress that although it might be necessary for the U.S. to bomb Iran to take out its nuclear weapons program, this should be the last option, and only if absolutely necessary. The president should first exhaust all other options of statecraft short of military force before he considers airstrikes to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities.
I don’t know how President Trump will choose his next National Security Adviser or when he will make this decision. I am confident that there are many talented MAGA national security experts for him to pick from. Whoever the president chooses, the next NSA likely will play a different role in national security policymaking than his predecessor, Michael Waltz.
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Fred Fleitz previously served as National Security Council chief of staff, a CIA analyst, and a House Intelligence Committee staff member. He is the editor of the 2024 book, “An America First Approach to U.S. National Security.”
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