Accessibility links

Breaking News
USA

Report: Trump Orders Substantial Cut in National Security Council Staff


FILE - The Presidential Seal is seen on a lectern in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, in Washington, Sept. 4, 2019.
FILE - The Presidential Seal is seen on a lectern in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, in Washington, Sept. 4, 2019.

U.S. President Donald Trump has asked for a substantial cut in the National Security Council staff, Bloomberg reported late on Friday, citing five people familiar with the plans.

The step was described by some sources cited in the report as part of an effort from the White House to make its foreign policy arm leaner.

FILE - National Security Adviser Robert C. O'Brien (R) talks with White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney during a meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, in New York, Sept. 23, 2019.
FILE - National Security Adviser Robert C. O'Brien (R) talks with White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney during a meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, in New York, Sept. 23, 2019.

The request to do so was conveyed to officials in the agency by current White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien earlier this week, according to Bloomberg.

The reductions at the agency, in which currently 310 people work, will be carried out through attrition, Bloomberg reported.

The report did not mention the exact number by which Trump is looking to cut the agency's staff.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours.

The development comes as Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives are examining whether there are grounds to impeach Republican Trump based on a whistleblower's account that said he asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a July 25 phone call to help investigate Democratic political rival Joe Biden.

Lawmakers are investigating concerns that Trump's actions have jeopardized national security and the integrity of U.S. elections.

  • 16x9 Image

    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

XS
SM
MD
LG