WHAT WOULD THE EXPERTS SAY: Just after the U.S. presidential election, there was much speculation about how the next Trump administration will impact U.S. national security.We know from his last four years in office that Trump is likely to be tough on China but we’re still a little weirded out over the whole public ‘bro love’ thing with Russian President Vladimir Putin (which could be kinda troublesome). A former Russia expert from the CIA who spent a lot of time on the Putin problem told The Cipher Brief that “It is absolutely critical that he [President-elect Trump] picks a good national security team. I think having people who are experienced or people who are smart enough to bring people with them that are very experienced – and then listening to those people – and then empowering them will be critical.”
THE GANG IS GETTING BACK TOGETHER: Politico has been doing some digging into who will be heading up the Trump transition teams. They report that Brian Hook will lead up that mission for the State Department and Robert Wilkie for the Defense Department. Joel Rayburn and Michael Anton are reportedly on tap for roles on the National Security Council transition team and former Trump DNI John Ratcliffe will have a hand in transition planning on national security policy.
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