Hostage Negotiator O’Brien named National Security Adviser by Trump

Robert O’Brien, an established figure in Republican policy circles as well as President Trump’s chief hostage negotiator was named the new national security adviser on Wednesday – the fourth person to hold the job over the last two years, becoming the point person on national security with all current commotion around the attacks on Saudi company Aramco the past weekend, tensions with Iran and a halt in peace talks with Afghanistan.

O’Brien was among five candidates Trump previously said on Tuesday were under consideration after ousting John Bolton from the position due to policy disagreements.

“He’s worked with me for quite awhile now on hostages and we have a tremendous track record on hostages,” Trump said Wednesday after revealing his choice on Twitter. “Robert has been fantastic. We know each other well.”

“We’ve got a number of challenges,” O’Brien said, commenting that the focus will be on rebuilding military and keeping the U.S. safe, adding that private talks with the president on the Saudi Arabia situation are a must.

The newly appointed National Security Adviser has worked on many cases of American hostages, advising officials on issues and working with the families of hostages. In February the release of Danny Burch, who was freed after 18 months in captivity in Yemen, was secured with help from O’Brien.

He emerged as a front-runner for the position last week after the early favorite, Brian Hook – Iran envoy, who had not been “tough enough” on Iran, fell slightly short, as well as North Korean envoy, Stephen Biegun, who was suggested to be a better fit as deputy secretary of state by Mike Pompeo.

O’Brien was a presidentially appointed member of a government committee focusing on issues of trafficking antiquities and various cultural items from 2008 through 2011. He had been nominated as U.S. representative to the U.N. General Assembly in 2005 by President George W. Bush.

A former adviser on Republican presidential campaigns, senior legal officer for the U.N. Security Council commission and a major in the U.S. Army Reserve among others, O’Brien is also the author of “While America Slept,” a collection of essays billed as a “wake-up call to the American people,” regarding President Obama’s “lead-from-behind foreign policy.”