Robert C. O'Brien

From 1996 to 1998, O'Brien was a legal officer with the United Nations Compensation Commission in Geneva, Switzerland.[4] O'Brien was a Major in the Judge Advocate General's Corps of the United States Army Reserve.

O'Brien was the California managing partner of the law firm Arent Fox LLP for seven years.[4][5][6]

O'Brien was a founding partner, along with former federal judge Stephen Larson, of the Los Angeles boutique law firm Larson O'Brien LLP, which they established in January 2016.[7] O'Brien retired from the firm when he was appointed National Security Advisor.[8]

O'Brien with Condoleezza Rice in 2007

O'Brien was nominated[9] by President George W. Bush as the U.S. Alternate Representative to the 60th session of the United Nations General Assembly during 2005–06.

O'Brien was Co-Chairman of the U.S. Department of State's Public-Private Partnership for Justice Reform in Afghanistan, launched in December 2007, which "promoted the rule of law" in Afghanistan by training judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys. He continued this role during the first term of the Obama administration.[10][11]

On July 31, 2008, President Bush announced his intention to appoint O'Brien to serve in his administration as a member of the Cultural Property Advisory Committee, an advisory committee on issues involving antiquities and cultural matters, for the remainder of a three-year term which expired on April 25, 2011.[10][11]

In October 2011, O'Brien was named to Mitt Romney's advisory team as Co-Chair of the International Organizations Work Group.[12]

Later, in May 2015, he became an adviser on foreign policy and national security affairs for Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's presidential campaign.[13][14] After Walker left the race, O'Brien advised Ted Cruz's campaign.[14] During the time he advised Ted Cruz's presidential campaign, he claimed: "It's clear that Vladimir Putin just doesn't like [Hillary Clinton], and is going to do what he can to help Donald Trump."[15]

O'Brien sworn in as Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs in 2018

O'Brien (left) as National Security Advisor in the White House Situation Room during the U.S. military raid on Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in 2019

In 2017, O'Brien was under consideration by the Donald Trump administration to serve as Secretary of the Navy.[16] The Orange County Register editorial board endorsed O'Brien to serve in this position, stating, "He is the ideal candidate to ensure American global dominance continues—in a way that fits both the present national mood and our enduring national values."[17]

From May 25, 2018 to October 3, 2019, O'Brien served as the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs.[18][10] He was given the rank of ambassador one year after his appointment.[19] He attended the trial of the American rapper ASAP Rocky in Stockholm, Sweden and told reporters "The president sent me here, so it's totally appropriate. I also help free people that are held by governments, so unjustly detained Americans."[20] O'Brien had written the Swedish government warning of "negative consequences" if the case was not resolved.[21] He "helped secure the 2018 release of American pastor Andrew Brunson, whose two-year imprisonment in Turkey heightened tensions between Washington and Ankara."[22] O'Brien was also involved in obtaining the release of Danny Burch, an American oil worker held in Yemen for a year, and who ultimately received an Oval Office meeting with President Trump.[23]

O'Brien took office as the 28th United States National Security Advisor on September 18, 2019. President Trump appointed O'Brien to succeed John Bolton, who resigned earlier that month.[24] A few days later, O'Brien announced that Matthew Pottinger would become the deputy national security advisor,[25] replacing Charles Kupperman in that role. O'Brien was seen as a traditional foreign policy conservative rather than a firebrand.[26]

Early in his tenure, O'Brien accompanied Vice President Mike Pence to meet Turkish President Recep Erdogan in efforts to achieve a ceasefire between Turkey and Kurdish forces in Syria after the U.S. abruptly withdrew military forces that stood between Turkish and Kurdish forces.[27]

In December 2019, O'Brien defended Trump's decision to pardon Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher, a convicted war criminal who was alleged by multiple fellow Navy SEALs of shooting innocent civilians and of murdering a sedated injured teenage ISIS fighter.[28]

After the Trump administration's strike against Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and commander of its Quds Force, O'Brien defended the intelligence the administration used to justify the killing, arguing that Soleimani had been planning attacks on U.S. military and diplomatic installations in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East.[29]

O'Brien prays at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City

O'Brien was named to the White House Coronavirus Task Force when it was established on January 29, 2020.[30] He took a low profile in responding to the pandemic.[31] In July 2020, he was reported to have contracted the virus.[32]

The National Security Council under O'Brien took a greater focus on China, and he aligned himself with Peter Navarro, a fellow hardliner on China.[31] He threatened sanctions against China if it moved to pass a national security law that pro-democracy activists believed would undermine freedom in Hong Kong.[33] O'Brien also criticized China for its actions amid territorial disputes in the South China Sea,[34] and oversaw an increase in U.S. and allied military activity intended to guarantee freedom of navigation.[35] O'Brien criticized China's government, saying in a speech that "The Chinese Communist Party is Marxist-Leninist," and "The party General Secretary Xi Jinping sees himself as Josef Stalin’s successor."[36] In the same speech, he asserted: "Together with our allies and partners, we will resist the Chinese Communist Party's efforts to manipulate our people and our governments, damage our economies, and undermine our sovereignty."[37]

O'Brien, Trump and Mike Pompeo with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in November 2019

When many other intelligence officials who had been involved in briefing Trump on national security characterized Trump as inattentive, O'Brien disputed the characterization, saying Trump was "laser-focused on the issues at hand and asks probing questions throughout the briefings — it reminds me of appearing before a well-prepared appellate judge and defending the case."[38]

Trump, O'Brien and Jared Kushner with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Ahmedabad, India, February 2020

In May 2020, after the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, O'Brien rejected that there was systemic racism in U.S. police forces.[39]

In an article published on July 12, 2020, three weeks after the release of his predecessor's book The Room Where It Happened, O'Brien defended Trump's record on China, stating that "the United States continues to stand against [the Chinese Communist Party’s coercive population-control policies] policies, especially as they are aimed at the Uighurs."[40]

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it was announced on July 27, 2020, that O'Brien had been diagnosed with COVID-19.[41][42] White House officials announced that O'Brien was experiencing "mild symptoms" and is "self-isolating and working from a secure location off site".[41]

A summit at the White House between Kosovo and Serbia was organized by Richard Grenell and scheduled for September 3 and 4, 2020.[43] Grenell, along with O'Brien, cohosted the talks.[43] On September 4, the agreements were signed by Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti.[43][44] The signing ceremony took place in the Oval Office at the White House in the presence of US President Donald Trump on September 4, 2020.[44]

Milun Trivunac, State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy of Serbia (sitting left),
Richard Grenell, Special US Presidential Envoy for Serbia and Kosovo Peace Negotiations (standing right),
Eset Berisha, Director of the Civil Aviation Authority of Kosovo (sitting right)

In August 2020, O'Brien said that President Trump should be eligible for the Nobel Peace Prize after the peace agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.[45] O'Brien served as part of a U.S.-Israeli delegation on the first commercial flight from Israel to the UAE on August 31, 2020.[46] The UAE and Israel moved to establish full diplomatic ties after Israel agreed to suspend a plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank.[47] On September 11 a new peace agreement was by the administration between Bahrain and Israel.

In December 2020, O'Brien explained in an interview that the China "absolutely could have done more" when it came to COVID-19 and that "the Chinese loss of credibility will be very difficult for them to overcome".[48]

Some commentators have speculated about O'Brien's future in politics after the Trump administration, including speculation he could be a candidate for president in 2024.[49] On November 16, 2020, O'Brien agreed to cooperation with President-elect Joe Biden's power transition.[50][51]