On Black Friday, President-elect Donald J. Trump announced his selection of Kathleen Troia "KT" McFarland to serve as Deputy National Security Advisor and Donald F. McGahn to serve as Assistant to the President and White House Counsel.
“I am proud that KT has once again decided to serve our country and join my national security team,” said President-elect Trump. “She has tremendous experience and innate talent that will complement the fantastic team we are assembling, which is crucial because nothing is more important than keeping our people safe.”
“The American people chose Donald J. Trump to lead them for a reason,” said Ms. McFarland. “He has the courage, brilliance and energy to Make America Great Again, and nobody has called foreign policy right more than President-elect Trump, and he gets no credit for it. I’m honored and humbled that he has asked me to be part of his team.”
Ms. McFarland is among the nation's foremost national security experts and is currently serving as FOX News' national security analyst.
Ms. McFarland held national security posts in the Nixon, Ford and Reagan Administrations: as an aide to Dr. Henry Kissinger, member of the Senate Armed Services Committee staff senior speechwriter to Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger and later Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs.
In 1985, Ms. McFarland received the Defense Department's highest civilian honor, the Distinguished Service Award, for her work in the Reagan Administration. She ran for New York’s U.S. Senate seat in 2006. The Clare Booth Luce Policy Institute named her Woman of the Year at the CPAC conference in 2015.
Ms. McFarland received a B.A. from George Washington University, a M.A. from Oxford University, and completed the Massachusetts Institute of Technology PhD program (all but dissertation) with concentrations on nuclear weapons, China, and the Soviet Union. Ms. McFarland is a senior policy fellow for the ACU Foundation Statesmanship and Diplomacy Center, a board member of the Jamestown Foundation, and a distinguished advisor to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
In addition to adding Ms. McFarland to the national security team, President-elect Trump is also pleased to add Mr. McGahn as Assistant to the President and White House Counsel.
Mr. McGahn has a distinguished legal career that spans two decades. Mr. McGahn served as general counsel for President-elect Trump’s campaign and currently on transition and will continue providing expert advice and counsel in the Trump-Pence Administration.
“Don has a brilliant legal mind, excellent character and a deep understanding of constitutional law,” said President-elect Trump. “He will play a critical role in our administration, and I am grateful that he is willing to serve our country at such a high-level capacity.”
