Who is Robert O’Brien? From hostage negotiator to Trump’s new top security adviser
John Bolton’s replacement announced at a time of heightened tension
US President Donald Trump named the Department of State’s chief hostage negotiator, Robert O’Brien, as his new national security adviser on Wednesday.
O’Brien, who will be Trump’s fourth appointee to the role, replaces John Bolton, a notoriously hawkish hard-liner whose clashes with the president led to his abrupt dismissal on 10 September. He is said to be more affable and cooperative than his predecessor.
“Robert’s been fantastic, we know each other well,” said Trump, hailing his new appointee to the press on the tarmac of Los Angeles International Airport yesterday, and citing his “tremendous track record” securing the release of hostages.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Standing beside Trump, O’Brien said: “It’s a privilege to serve with the president. We look forward to another year and a half of peace through strength. We’ve had tremendous foreign policy successes under President Trump’s leadership. I expect those to continue,” he said, going on to repeat the phrase “peace through strength”.
So what is the new national security adviser’s background?
O’Brien trained as a lawyer before advising Republicans on foreign policy and serving in several government roles, including representative to the UN General Assembly under George W. Bush in 2005, when he worked with Bolton.
“He has also worked for former secretaries of state Condoleezza Rice and Hillary Clinton,” says the BBC
Prior to his appointment, perhaps O’Brien’s highest profile role was an unusual one. “O'Brien made headlines over the summer when Trump sent him to Sweden to help put pressure on the Swedish government amid the rapper A$AP Rocky's trial on assault charges,” reports Business Insider. “It was an unusual assignment, given that diplomats like O'Brien typically handle hostage situations in war-torn countries.”
Andrew Exum, a former member of the Obama Administration, had this to say on Twitter.
“Mr Trump was said to have been attracted to Mr O'Brien's personal style, which is a contrast to that of Mr Bolton, and to have concluded that he ‘looked the part’ of national security adviser,” reports The Telegraph. “US officials indicated the president wanted an adviser who would be less of a public figure, and cause less controversy.”
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––For a round-up of the most important stories from around the world - and a concise, refreshing and balanced take on the week’s news agenda - try The Week magazine. Get your first six issues free–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
“In Robert O’Brien... the president seems to have found a compliant, behind-the-scenes worker bee better suited to Mr. Trump’s domineering temperament,” reflects Jonathan Stevenson in The New York Times. “His appointment may signal the death knell of any hope to check the president’s worst foreign-policy impulses.”
The administration is currently embroiled in a tense national security situation, and among O’Brien’s first duties will be to counsel the president as he deliberates over how to respond to last weekend’s attacks on Saudi Arabian oil facilities.
“In the space of seven minutes on an airport tarmac on Wednesday, President Trump captured the thorny decision he faces as he once again straddles the edge of war and peace,” says The New York Times. “One moment, he threatened to order ‘the ultimate option’ of a strike on Iran... The next he ruminated about what a mistake it had been for the United States to get entangled in Middle East wars and welcomed Iran’s president to visit.”
It will be O’Brien’s job to help Trump inflate his aura of strength, without actually risking the foreign entanglements the president has pledged to avoid.
In 2016, O’Brien published a collection of essays titled While America Slept, in which he is critical of then-president Barack Obama’s foreign policy. Again, there, he talked of “peace through strength”, clearly a tenet of his policy position.
"America faces a stark choice in 2016 between a continuation of President Obama’s ‘lead-from-behind’ foreign policy and sequester-based national security approach and a return to President Reagan’s ‘leader of the free world’ foreign policy and ‘peace through strength’ national security approach," he wrote.
On Tuesday, Trump had named five candidates as contenders for the role, but crucially, according to Bloomberg, “O’Brien had the backing of Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, whose central role shaping the administration’s foreign policy will be solidified by the appointment.”
CNN agrees that O’Brien is Pompeo’s man, calling the secretary of state “the most influential national security voice in the administration”. It adds: “Trump, who is known to respond well to flattery, has recounted praise from O'Brien in tweets and in conversations, suggesting that the new national security adviser also knows how to handle the President and his mercurial moods.”
Indeed, Trump alluded happily to O’Brien’s past praise in front of reporters in Los Angeles. “Robert O’Brien said, ‘Trump is the greatest hostage negotiator in history’. He happens to be right,” said the president.
Other commentators fear that O’Briens demonstrated ability to gratify Trump may be his primary virtue.
“Mr. Trump, fronted by Mr. Pompeo, will probably continue to dangle ‘tremendous deals’ and threaten bold military action to prop up his image as a simultaneous visionary and tough guy, neglecting what he considers mundane problems, such as humanitarian aid and refugee crises,” continues Stevenson in The New York Times. “Mr. O’Brien will be along for an erratic and risky ride, probably relegated to the back seat. World affairs will continue to be unpredictable and in disarray, American policy incoherent, and the liberal rules-based order once led by the United States further degraded.”
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
William Gritten is a London-born, New York-based strategist and writer focusing on politics and international affairs.
-
Today's political cartoons - October 13, 2024
Sunday's cartoons - the swing of things, fear of facts, and more
By The Week US Published
-
5 timely cartoons about climate change denial
Cartoons Artists take on textbook trouble, bizarre beliefs, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Kris Kristofferson: the free-spirited country music star who studied at Oxford
In the Spotlight The songwriter, singer and film-star has died aged 88
By The Week UK Published
-
Why NATO, Ukraine are nervous about a second Trump presidency
The Explainer A 'radical reorientation' of U.S. policy is possible
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Bob Woodward's War: the explosive Trump revelations
In the spotlight Nobody can beat Watergate veteran at 'getting the story of the White House from the inside'
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
'Nobody sees themselves in the word 'other'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Who are undecided voters, anyway?
Talking Points They might decide the presidential election
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Donald Trump's health care plan would retain the status quo
The Explainer The Republican Party is still having difficulty formulating concrete health care proposals
By David Faris Published
-
What power does Elon Musk hold as a campaigner?
Talking Points The world's richest man is going all in to get Donald Trump elected in November — whether it will make a difference is entirely unclear
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
'Some of the delay is needless'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Why does Donald Trump want to free the founder of an online black market?
Today's Big Question Ross Ulbricht was sentenced to life in prison for creating the Silk Road market
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published