Trump’s National Security Team Keeps Getting More Extreme
Two former staffers from Donald Trump’s first presidential term are now vying to be his deputy national security adviser. Politico reports that Sebastian Gorka and Michael Anton are top contenders for the post, which would not require Senate confirmation. On Monday, Trump asked Florida Republican Representative Mike Waltz to be his national security adviser.Both Gorka and Anton would be controversial picks. Gorka reportedly believes that violence is inherently part of Islam, and vehemently supported Trump’s Muslim ban. Born in London to Hungarian parents, Gorka lived in Hungary from 1992 to 2008, and at one point had an arrest warrant on gun charges in the country. In 2016, while also a consultant for Trump’s first presidential campaign, Gorka worked for the FBI, but was fired for his anti-Muslim diatribes. Gorka also was accused of having ties to a Nazi-allied organization in Hungary, Vitzi Rend, a charge he denies, although he has been photographed wearing a medal from the antisemitic group. From January 2017 until August of that year, Gorka worked in the Trump administration as a strategist and deputy assistant to the president and was supposed to work on national security issues. However, he was unable to obtain a security clearance, raising questions about what he was actually doing in the White House. Even Gorka’s academic credentials have been called into question, as he claims to have a doctorate which experts say was awarded on weak standards. Anton worked as a speechwriter for conservative figures including Rudy Giuliani, Condoleezza Rice, and Rupert Murdoch before joining the Trump administration as a deputy assistant to the president for strategic communications in 2017. He has also espoused anti-Muslim views, criticized the Black Lives Matter movement, and even claimed in 2020 that George Soros was planning a coup with the help of the Democratic Party. He is arguably best known as the author of “The Flight 93 Election,” a 2016 manifesto that urged conservatives to support Trump. Of the two, Anton is more likely to get the post, according to one of Politico’s sources. But, if either gets the job, they will have access to vital national security information, will craft policy, and will likely also target American citizens they disagree with. That’s a scary prospect, especially with a president who has repeatedly threatened to use the military against “the enemy within.”
Two former staffers from Donald Trump’s first presidential term are now vying to be his deputy national security adviser.
Politico reports that Sebastian Gorka and Michael Anton are top contenders for the post, which would not require Senate confirmation. On Monday, Trump asked Florida Republican Representative Mike Waltz to be his national security adviser.
Both Gorka and Anton would be controversial picks. Gorka reportedly believes that violence is inherently part of Islam, and vehemently supported Trump’s Muslim ban. Born in London to Hungarian parents, Gorka lived in Hungary from 1992 to 2008, and at one point had an arrest warrant on gun charges in the country.
In 2016, while also a consultant for Trump’s first presidential campaign, Gorka worked for the FBI, but was fired for his anti-Muslim diatribes. Gorka also was accused of having ties to a Nazi-allied organization in Hungary, Vitzi Rend, a charge he denies, although he has been photographed wearing a medal from the antisemitic group.
From January 2017 until August of that year, Gorka worked in the Trump administration as a strategist and deputy assistant to the president and was supposed to work on national security issues. However, he was unable to obtain a security clearance, raising questions about what he was actually doing in the White House. Even Gorka’s academic credentials have been called into question, as he claims to have a doctorate which experts say was awarded on weak standards.
Anton worked as a speechwriter for conservative figures including Rudy Giuliani, Condoleezza Rice, and Rupert Murdoch before joining the Trump administration as a deputy assistant to the president for strategic communications in 2017. He has also espoused anti-Muslim views, criticized the Black Lives Matter movement, and even claimed in 2020 that George Soros was planning a coup with the help of the Democratic Party. He is arguably best known as the author of “The Flight 93 Election,” a 2016 manifesto that urged conservatives to support Trump.
Of the two, Anton is more likely to get the post, according to one of Politico’s sources. But, if either gets the job, they will have access to vital national security information, will craft policy, and will likely also target American citizens they disagree with. That’s a scary prospect, especially with a president who has repeatedly threatened to use the military against “the enemy within.”
