The Trump White House has slashed the staff of the National Security Council, whose role is to coordinate policymaking, by more than half. Deliberation of policy options barely exists, and it’s not clear who — if anyone — advises the president.
On this episode of “The Diplomacy Podcast,” we discuss the recent NSC purge and its implications for Americans’ safety and security, with Ambassador Cindy Courville, a former NSC senior director for African affairs. She was also the first U.S. ambassador to the African Union.
She offers insight into how the “interagency process,” which is essential in a democracy but has been largely abandoned, helped presidents make difficult and highly consequential decisions for decades.
“We’re no longer making policy — we are reacting to situations. The average American is in a blissful state of ignorance for the moment. That’s a wonderful place if you can be there, but the consequences are grave.”
Courville, who worked in the George W. Bush White House as a civil servant detailed from the Defense Intelligence Agency, also talks about what the loss of significant national security expertise means in practice.
“That’s the most important thing that advisors to a president can do: You have to tell the president what he does not want to hear, but what he needs to know. I shudder at the thought of what kind of information — if any — is getting through to the president of the United States.”
Watch or listen to the episode above — or on your favorite podcast platform.
Nicholas Kralev is the founder and executive director of the Washington International Diplomatic Academy, and a former Financial Times and Washington Times correspondent. His books include “Diplomatic Tradecraft,” “America’s Other Army” and “Diplomats in the Trenches.”
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