Trump Picks Low-Key Operative as National Security Advisor

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday named Robert O’Brien, his envoy for hostage affairs, to replace John Bolton as his fourth national security advisor, elevating a relatively unknown figure in a move that appears to solidify Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s role as the most influential foreign-policy figure within the administration.

With O’Brien’s scant government experience, his elevation all but ensures that Pompeo will have no major rival in the White House jockeying with him to influence Trump, according to former National Security Council officials and experts who spoke to Foreign Policy. Two and a half years into the Trump administration, Pompeo remains the sole foreign-policy advisor to have served in the administration since its beginning—first as CIA director, then as secretary of state.

Read the full story and more in Foreign Policy.