Trump reduces the National Security Council in the major reshuffle of foreign policy: NPR

President Trump ordered massive cuts to the National Security Council of the White House, sending dozens of political experts on Friday, one of the officials who was released at NPR.

The manager said the layoffs were abrupt. Staff members were informed at 4:30 p.m. and asked to leave at 5 p.m. “We are all talking about between us,” said the manager, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation. The cuts went deep. For example, in the Middle East section, the workforce went from 10 staff members to five.

The objective of the overhaul is to eliminate bureaucracy and duplication, most parts of the operation paying for their home services and agencies, a second source with direct knowledge of the plans declared to NPR. The source spoke on condition of anonymity to protect private conversations.

After the cuts, the NSC will be left roughly the same size it was at the end of Trump's first term, the source said. The spokesperson for the White House and National Security Council did not respond to requests for comments.

The NSC – mainly endowed by political experts loaned by the State Department, the Pentagon, the intelligence agencies and other national security weapons of the government – provides information and advice to the president for its greatest diplomatic and security decisions. But in the second term of Trump, he played a smaller role.

Trump more relied on Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and others in his cabinet while he makes foreign policy decisions rather than recommendations from the NSC.

On May 1, Trump actually rejected his national security advisor Mike Waltz – the NSC chief – in the first great upheaval of his best ranks. He said he would name Waltz to be an ambassador to the United Nations.

Rubio has executed the NSC since in a very unusual double role. The change was made after Waltz inadvertently invited a journalist to a private textual cat discussing military plans for us strikes on the Houthis in Yemen.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio testifies to Capitol Hill on Wednesday. The National Security Council has seen its influence shrink in Trump's second term while the president is reluctant to Rubio and other administration officials to obtain foreign policy advice.

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Trump also narrowed the NSC during his first mandate

Towards the end of his first mandate, Trump also pushed to shrink the NSC. The overhaul was designed by Robert O'Brien, fourth and last national security advisor in Trump during his first mandate.

O'Brien, now president of the council Written earlier this month The fact that Trump faced a challenge similar to his second mandate, saying that the NSC was too large with too many “held” from previous administrations trying to direct the policy. This article was one of the catalysts of the cuts, according to the NSC manager, now trained, who spoke at NPR.

O'Brien said Trump had around 110 NSC staff at the end of his first mandate and had seen the place for more in -depth consolidation.

“We believe the NSC Political staff could be rationalized to 60 people, the same number of NSC Staff members that President Dwight D. Eisenhower used, “wrote O'Brien in the Washington Times OP-ED with Alexander Gray, CEO of their business.