A restructuring of the White House National Security Council (NSC) got under way on Friday, as US President Donald Trump moved to slash the size and scope of the once-powerful body, five sources briefed on the matter said.
Staff dealing with a variety of major geopolitical issues, from Ukraine to Kashmir, were sent termination notices in the afternoon, the sources said on condition of anonymity.
The move came just weeks after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio took over from Mike Waltz as national security adviser.
Photo: AP
The NSC declined to comment.
The NSC restructuring is expected to further reduce the agency’s influence, transforming it from a powerful policymaking body into a small organization focused more on implementing the president’s agenda than on shaping it, the sources said.
In practice, the move is expected to grant more authority to the US Department of State, the US Department of Defense and other departments and agencies involved in diplomacy, national security and intelligence matters, the sources said.
The Financial Times (FT) has reported that NSC senior director for Asia Ivan Kanapathy remains in post, but his entire staff, including his China team, has been fired.
It remains unclear whether his deputy, Alex Wong, who is a well-respected official with hawkish views on China, remains in position, it said.
Several high-ranking staffers were fired earlier in the year after right-wing conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer presented Trump with a list of national security staffers she perceived to be disloyal.
The FT said that Loomer, who helped persuade Trump to fire Waltz, had also sought to remove Wong and Kanapathy.
The administration’s aim is to reduce the size of the NSC to just a few dozen people.
Four sources with knowledge of the plans said they expect the final headcount at the NSC to come out to about 50 people.
The NSC is traditionally the main body used by presidents to coordinate national security strategy. Its staff often make key decisions regarding the US’ foreign policy.
The body had more than 300 staffers under former US president Joe Biden, but even before the recent firings under Trump it was well less than half the size of Biden’s NSC.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Nvidia Corp yesterday unveiled its new high-speed interconnect technology, NVLink Fusion, with Taiwanese application-specific IC (ASIC) designers Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯) and MediaTek Inc (聯發科) among the first to adopt the technology to help build semi-custom artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure for hyperscalers. Nvidia has opened its technology to outside users, as hyperscalers and cloud service providers are building their own cost-effective AI chips, or accelerators, used in AI servers by leveraging ASIC firms’ designing capabilities to reduce their dependence on Nvidia. Previously, NVLink technology was only available for Nvidia’s own AI platform. “NVLink Fusion opens Nvidia’s AI platform and rich ecosystem for
WARNING: From Jan. 1 last year to the end of last month, 89 Taiwanese have gone missing or been detained in China, the MAC said, urging people to carefully consider travel to China Lax enforcement had made virtually moot regulations banning civil servants from making unauthorized visits to China, the Control Yuan said yesterday. Several agencies allowed personnel to travel to China after they submitted explanations for the trip written using artificial intelligence or provided no reason at all, the Control Yuan said in a statement, following an investigation headed by Control Yuan member Lin Wen-cheng (林文程). The probe identified 318 civil servants who traveled to China without permission in the past 10 years, but the true number could be close to 1,000, the Control Yuan said. The public employees investigated were not engaged in national
ALL TOGETHER: Only by including Taiwan can the WHA fully exemplify its commitment to ‘One World for Health,’ the representative offices of eight nations in Taiwan said The representative offices in Taiwan of eight nations yesterday issued a joint statement reiterating their support for Taiwan’s meaningful engagement with the WHO and for Taipei’s participation as an observer at the World Health Assembly (WHA). The joint statement came as Taiwan has not received an invitation to this year’s WHA, which started yesterday and runs until Tuesday next week. This year’s meeting of the decisionmaking body of the WHO in Geneva, Switzerland, would be the ninth consecutive year Taiwan has been excluded. The eight offices, which reaffirmed their support for Taiwan, are the British Office Taipei, the Australian Office Taipei, the
CAUSE AND EFFECT: China’s policies prompted the US to increase its presence in the Indo-Pacific, and Beijing should consider if this outcome is in its best interests, Lai said China has been escalating its military and political pressure on Taiwan for many years, but should reflect on this strategy and think about what is really in its best interest, President William Lai (賴清德) said. Lai made the remark in a YouTube interview with Mindi World News that was broadcast on Saturday, ahead of the first anniversary of his presidential inauguration tomorrow. The US has clearly stated that China is its biggest challenge and threat, with US President Donald Trump and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth repeatedly saying that the US should increase its forces in the Indo-Pacific region
RSS