The United States National Security Council (NSC) is the national security council used by the president of the United States for consideration of national security, military, and foreign policy matters. Based in the White House, it is part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, and composed of senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials.
Herbert Raymond McMaster is a retired United States Army lieutenant general who served as the 25th United States National Security Advisor from 2017 to 2018. He is also known for his roles in the Gulf War, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Lieutenant General Ronald Lee Burgess Jr., United States Army is a retired United States Army lieutenant general. His last military assignment was as the 17th director of the Defense Intelligence Agency and commander of the Joint Functional Component Command for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (JFCC-ISR). Prior to that, he was Director of the Intelligence Staff in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
Kathleen Troia McFarland is an American political commentator, civil servant, author, and former political candidate.
Dereliction of Duty: Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam is a 1997 book written by H. R. McMaster, at the time a major in the United States Army. The book presents a case indicting former U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson and his principal civilian and military advisers for losing the Vietnam War. The book was based on McMaster's Ph.D. dissertation at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Keith W. Dayton is a retired lieutenant general in the United States Army who currently serves as the director of the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. Dayton served as the U.S. Security Coordinator for Israel-Palestinian Authority in Tel Aviv, Israel from December 2005 to October 2010. He has also served as the Director of the Iraq Survey Group, as a senior member of the Joint Staff, and as U.S. Defense Attaché in the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, Russia.
Robert Stiles Harward, Jr., known as Bob Harward, is a retired United States Navy SEAL and a former Deputy Commander of the United States Central Command, under the leadership command of General James Mattis. After working as a Chief Executive at Lockheed Martin for eight years, he joined Shield AI as Executive Vice President for International Business and Strategy. He also served as the Deputy Commander of U.S. Joint Forces Command and previously commanded Combined Joint Interagency Task Force 435.
Bert Kameaaloha Mizusawa is a retired major general in the United States Army, serving in the Army from 1979 to 2015. Mizusawa also served in the United States Senate as a professional staff member and as a Senior Executive in the Pentagon, making him one of only a handful of individuals to serve at flag rank in the military as well as in both the legislative and executive branches. Mizusawa is also an attorney and is admitted to the bars of New York, the District of Columbia, Virginia and the United States Supreme Court.
Gustave F. Perna is a retired United States Army four-star general who last served as the chief operating officer of the federal COVID-19 response for vaccine and therapeutics. He previously served as the chief operating officer of Operation Warp Speed from July 2020 until the operation's duties and responsibilities were transferred to the White House COVID-19 Response Team in February 2021. As chief operating officer of COVID-19 response, he oversaw the logistics in the United States federal government's distribution of the vaccine to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Senate confirmed his nomination as chief operating officer on 2 July 2020, and he assumed the office shortly after.
Joseph Keith Kellogg Jr. is an American statesman, diplomat, and retired lieutenant general in the United States Army. He previously served as the National Security Advisor to Vice President Mike Pence, and as the Executive Secretary and Chief of Staff of the United States National Security Council in the first Trump administration. He served as National Security Advisor on an acting basis following the resignation of Michael T. Flynn. In November 2024, President-elect Trump selected Kellogg to be his special envoy for Ukraine and Russia.
The Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, commonly referred to as the Homeland Security Advisor, is a senior aide in the National Security Council, based in the West Wing of the White House, who serves as principal advisor to the President of the United States on homeland security and counterterrorism issues.
Mira Radielovic Ricardel, is an American businesswoman and former government official.
Robin Louise Fontes is a retired United States Army major general who last served as deputy commanding general (operations) of the United States Army Cyber Command. In July 2017 she took command of Combined Security Transition Command – Afghanistan, becoming the highest-ranking female military officer in Afghanistan since the American invasion of that country in 2001. A mustang officer, Fontes was commissioned in 1986 and focused on Central Asia, eventually serving in Tajikistan, Pakistan, and India, including a few years in Afghanistan. She assumed her final position after the resignation of Michael Flynn from the Trump Administration ended her announced role as senior director for India, Pakistan and Central Asian Affairs on the United States National Security Council. In May 2022, Fontes joined Kronos Fusion Energy as a founding partner and board member in charge of International Expansion.
Douglas Margrave Fears is a retired United States Coast Guard rear admiral who last served as Director of Joint Interagency Task Force South. He previously served as Assistant Commandant for Response Policy. Fears was the Homeland Security Advisor to President Donald Trump until July 12, 2019.
Charles Martin Kupperman is a former United States Deputy National Security Advisor for President Donald Trump, a position he held from January to September 2019. He also was the acting United States National Security Advisor for eight days in September 2019 between John Bolton and Robert C. O'Brien.
Earl G. Matthews is an American government official and attorney who held senior positions within the Department of the Army and at the White House during the administration of President Donald Trump. Matthews was a member of Trump's Department of Defense transition team and was appointed as a Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense, James N. Mattis on January 20, 2017. Matthews was subsequently appointed as the Principal Deputy General Counsel of the Army on June 21, 2019. He served as Acting General Counsel of the Army from June 21, 2017, until James E. McPherson was sworn in as General Counsel on January 2, 2018.
The core White House staff appointments, and most Executive Office of the President officials generally, are not required to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate, with a handful of exceptions. There are about 4,000 positions in the Executive Office of the President.
Charles A. Flynn is a retired United States Army general who last served as the commanding general of United States Army Pacific from 2021 to 2024. He previously served as Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, Plans and Training (G3/5/7) of the Army Staff from 2019 to 2021. He is the younger brother of Lieutenant General Michael T. Flynn, Donald Trump's first National Security Advisor.
United States 
United States Army Reserve 
Lieutenant General 
