President Trump on Wednesday named his chief hostage negotiator, Robert O’Brien, to succeed John Bolton as national security adviser.
“I have worked long & hard with Robert. He will do a great job!,” Trump wrote on Twitter in announcing the selection of O’Brien (inset), the special envoy for hostage affairs at the State Department.
Speaking to reporters later Wednesday while on a fund-raising trip in Los Angeles, Trump sang O’Brien’s praises.
“Mr. O’Brien is highly respected . . . He did a tremendous job on hostage negotiation, really tremendous — like unparalleled,” the commander in chief said as O’Brien stood next to him. “I think we have a very good chemistry together and we’re going to have a great relationship.”
O’Brien, who becomes Trump’s fourth national security adviser after Bolton’s ouster last week, aided in the release of American Danny Burch from Yemen following 18 months in captivity.
Trump also dispatched O’Brien to Sweden to monitor the assault case against American rapper A$AP Rocky.
O’Brien takes over as the Middle East is on edge after the bombing of Saudi oil facilities on Saturday.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called it an “act of war” carried out by Iran to disrupt the world’s supply of oil.
Asked about inheriting the job at such a precarious time, O’Brien said, “We’re looking at those issues now.
“We’ve got a number of challenges, but there’s a great team in place with Secretary Pompeo and [Defense] Secretary [Mark] Esper, and I look forward to working with them and working with the president to keep America safe and continue to rebuild our military,” he said.
The national security adviser doesn’t require Senate confirmation.
With Wire Services