National Security Advisors Under Donald Trump and Joseph Biden

The functions of the National Security Council (NSC) and the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, commonly referred to as the National Security Advisor (NSA), have significantly evolved. The article concentrates on the functions of the NSA that came to the fore depending on the president’s leadership style during the administrations of Donald Trump and Joseph Biden. Studies of the ‘Scowcroft model’, which emphasizes the role of the NSA as both an “honest broker” and the president’s personal advisor, serve as the theoretical framework for this article. In the Trump administration, Michael Flynn and John Bolton seemed to deviate from the model, affecting the efficiency of the decision-making process. In contrast, Herbert McMaster and Robert O’Brien emphasized adherence to the model. By the end of Trump’s tenure, the NSC’s operations began to align more closely with the ‘Scowcroft model’. During Biden’s tenure, the Clinton-Obama team has largely been reassembled, with minimal dissenting opinions, if any. Jacob Sullivan has combined the traditional roles of the NSA – as both a broker and the president’s personal advisor on strategy – with responsibilities that were considered undesirable in the recent past.