Trump Names New National Security Advisor - Bolton Without The Mustache?

Robert O'Brien

Daniel McAdams, Executive Director of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity, writes: 

President Trump has named Robert O'Brien, who served as foreign affairs advisor to Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, as his replacement for fired National Security Advisor John Bolton. O'Brien is cut from the exact same neoconservative cloth as Bolton and represents, at most, change in style and physical appearance. 

The New York Times appears to concur:

[I]t is not clear how different his advice will be from his predecessor given that Mr. O’Brien previously worked for Mr. Bolton and has cited his hawkish views in the past.

This may be even worse than Bolton. NYT informs:

He has written regularly about foreign policy and collected a series of essays into a book, “While America Slept,” published in 2016 during the last presidential campaign with a cover blurb from Mr. Bolton.

In that book, Mr. O’Brien warned of the dangers that major powers like Russia and China pose and argued against “appeasement and retreat” as he excoriated President Barack Obama for what he deemed a weak foreign policy. He compared Mr. Obama’s nuclear agreement with Iran to the Munich Agreement that emboldened Adolf Hitler in 1938.

O'Brien does know how to kiss Trump's butt.

According to NYT,  he previously worked as special presidential envoy for hostage affairs under Trump and worked to release Americans held abroad. Among those who have been freed were Andrew Brunson, a pastor held by Turkey for two years, and Danny Burch, an oil-company engineer kidnapped in Yemen and rescued in a raid by forces from the United Arab Emirates.

“This wouldn’t happen with all of these hostages and detainees without the support of the president,” O’Brien said in March after Burch’s release. “The president has had unparalleled success in bringing Americans home without paying concessions, without prisoner exchanges, but through force of will and the good will that he’s generated around the world.”

From the Washinton Post on the slippery snake that O'Brien is:

O’Brien’s commentary on Trump during the 2016 election, when he advised the campaigns of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), was not quite so friendly. At one point, he urged Cruz to draw a contrast on national security with Trump, who “has been playing up how chummy he will be with Vladimir Putin if he is elected.” O’Brien also expressed reservations about Trump, saying he “talks about his love for the military and our veterans, but he has also made troubling statements about cutting the defense budget.” (Trump has, in fact, increased the defense budget as president.)

Once Trump was elected, though, O’Brien was quick to hail him — even before he was inaugurated. O’Brien’s December 2016 column about Trump’s early forays into diplomacy was headlined as if it were written expressly for the Audience of One: “Trump Just Keeps Winning: America’s Allies Are Boosting Defense Spending.”

 -RW

(ht headline via daniel McAdams)