Trump names new national security adviser

President Donald Trump named Robert O’Brien, the US hostage negotiator, his new national security adviser on Wednesday.

The announcement came a week after Trump fired John Bolton, citing disagreements on several issues, and as he confronts a major foreign policy crisis following the attack on Saudi oil facilities — which the administration has blamed on Iran.

Aides expected an announcement because acting national security adviser Charlie Kupperman, who took over in Bolton’s absence, was not scheduled to travel to New York for next week’s meeting of the United Nations General Assembly.

Trump personally dispatched O’Brien to help free US rapper A$AP Rocky from Swedish prison earlier this year.

The hostage negotiator interviewed for the post with the President and acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney last week and enjoyed support from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is now the most influential national security voice in the administration.

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.

O’Brien has also made Trump look good — giving him numbers to boast about and successes that made for high profile media coverage.

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