Trump shrinks National Security Council in major foreign policy shakeup

Tom Bowman | May 23, 2025

President Trump walks to board Air Force One prior to departure from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Friday en route to New Jersey for the weekend.

President Trump has ordered massive cuts to the White House National Security Council, sending dozens of policy experts packing on Friday, one of the officials who was let go told NPR.

The official said that the dismissals were abrupt. Staffers were notified at 4:30 p.m. and asked to leave by 5 p.m. “We’re all talking among ourselves,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation. The cuts went deep. For example, in the Middle East section, headcount went from 10 staffers to five.

The goal of the overhaul is to eliminate bureaucracy and duplication, with most parts of the operation shifting back to their home departments and agencies, a second source with direct knowledge of the plans told NPR. The source spoke on condition of anonymity to protect private conversations.

After the cuts, the NSC will be left at approximately the same size it was at the end of Trump’s first term, the source said. Spokespersons for the White House and National Security Council did not respond to requests for comment.

The NSC — staffed primarily by policy experts on loan from the State Department, Pentagon, intelligence agencies and other national security arms of the government — provides information and advice to the president for his biggest diplomatic and security decisions. But in Trump’s second term, it has played a smaller role.

Trump has instead leaned more on Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and others in his cabinet as he makes foreign policy decisions rather than taking in recommendations coming up from the NSC.

On May 1, Trump effectively dismissed his national security adviser Mike Waltz — the head of the NSC — in the first big shake-up of his top ranks. He said he would nominate Waltz to be ambassador to the United Nations.

Rubio has been running the NSC since in a very unusual double-role. The change was made after Waltz inadvertently invited a journalist into a private text chat discussing military plans for U.S. strikes on the Houthis in Yemen.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio testifies on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. The National Security Council has seen its influence shrink in Trump's second term as the president increasingly relies on Rubio and other administration officials for foreign policy advice. — Secretary of State Marco Rubio testifies on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. The National Security Council has seen its influence shrink in Trump’s second term as the president increasingly relies on Rubio and other administration officials for foreign policy advice. (John McDonnell | Getty Images)

Trump shrunk the NSC in his first term, too

Near the end of his first term, Trump also pushed to shrink the NSC. The overhaul was designed by Robert O’Brien, Trump’s fourth and final national security adviser in his first term.

O’Brien, now chairman of consultancy American Global Strategies, wrote earlier this month that Trump faced a similar challenge in his second term, saying the NSC was too big with too many “holdovers” from previous administrations trying to direct policy. That article was one of the catalysts for the cuts, according to the now-former NSC official who spoke to NPR.

O’Brien said Trump had about 110 staffers at the NSC by the end of his first term, and saw room for further consolidation.

“We believe the NSC policy staff could be streamlined to 60 people, the same number of NSC staffers that President Dwight D. Eisenhower employed,” O’Brien wrote in the Washington Times op-ed with Alexander Gray, CEO of their firm.