Robert O'Brien: The man in charge of crisis response

US President Donald appeared next to Robert O'Brien shortly after announcing the fourth National Security Advisor of his term. Photo: Reuters

The right person for Trump

On September 18, US President Donald Trump selected negotiator Robert O'Brien as national security adviser to replace John Bolton, who was dismissed on September 10.

Mr. O'Brien is currently the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs at the US State Department. He has extensive experience in building foreign policy for the ruling Republican Party.

Earlier, on September 10, President Donald Trump announced his decision to fire Mr. John Bolton for “making many big mistakes”. Mr. Trump said that former National Security Advisor Bolton had caused the US to retreat in denuclearization negotiations with North Korea when he asked Pyongyang to follow the “Libya model” and “hand over all nuclear weapons” in exchange for concessions from the US.

Mr. Bolton once proposed using military force against North Korea and US officials said he was responsible for the second US-North Korea Summit in Hanoi in February 2019 ending without reaching an agreement.

“I have worked with Robert for a long time. He will do an excellent job!”

Following President Donald Trump's announcement, O'Brien wrote: "We have some challenges ahead" and that it was a privilege for him to be chosen for this important position.

Robert O'Brien, the hostage negotiator, is considered one of Trump's most loyal staff. He has long been involved in the Republican Party's foreign policy team. However, compared to his predecessor John Bolton, O'Brien has a lower profile, especially in the public eye.

“He is not a person with a prominent resume, but he is a very important person,” said Joel Rubin, a former deputy assistant secretary of state under the Barack Obama administration.

“This is not a threat to the President’s decisive role in foreign policy,” Joel Robin told Al Jazeera about the decision to appoint Robert O’Brien. That is also the reason why John Bolton had to leave the position. Disagreeing too much with the President is what makes people worry, Bolton could usurp the power of the White House owner if not controlled.

“Trump, after a period of unsatisfactory work with John Bolton, clearly no longer trusts strong personalities and unrealistic people in the National Security Advisor position,” Ned Price, former spokesman for the US National Security Council during the Barack Obama administration, wrote on his personal Twitter.

“Pompeo may not be well suited to play both Secretary of State and National Security Advisor, but he could do it if he tried,” Ned Price said of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

President Trump also said he was impressed with the way O'Brien rescued American citizens illegally detained abroad.

Robert O'Brien in court in Stockholm in July during his bid to free rapper A$AP Rocky. Photo: Getty Images

Rescue Expert

“I had a lot of contact with O'Brien in my work, especially when it came to captives. And I saw some new milestones in that area,” the US President said, stressing that O'Brien “brought a lot of people back” without having to pay any ransom.

O'Brien rarely appears in the press, although the US President once sent him to Stockholm, Sweden to monitor the trial of A$AP Rocky, a rapper who angered the Swedish government with his political statements.

When the court released the American rapper and two associates, before finding them guilty, O'Brien declared it "a good decision for America and the Kingdom of Sweden".

Robert O'Brien, a Mormon - a branch of Christianity, was a campaign adviser to Senator Mitt Romney, but is a loyalist to President Trump. With his rescue missions, O'Brien contributed to glorifying the achievements of the current administration.

In April, President Trump cited O'Brien's work as a success for his administration. "President Donald J. Trump has one of the greatest hostage negotiators I have ever known in the history of our country. 20 hostages, many of which were impossible, resolved in the last 2 years. No money paid," Trump tweeted, referring to O'Brien.

O'Brien has held several positions at the US State Department. In 2005, he served as the US representative to the United Nations General Assembly, nominated by then-President George W. Bush. In this position, he had the opportunity to work with John Bolton, who was then the US ambassador to the United Nations.

So what makes O'Brien the "Negotiator"? It is the ability and willingness to dialogue with America's enemies - Joel Rubin commented.

O'Brien helped broker the release last year of American pastor Andrew Brunson, who had been imprisoned in Türkiye for two years amid escalating tensions between the United States and Turkey. Earlier this year, he played a key role in the return of American citizen Danny Burch, who was detained in Yemen. Burch was working for an oil company when he was kidnapped in 2017.

So what skills make such a famous negotiator? O'Brien earned his law degree from the University of California, Berkeley. Before that, he graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a degree in political science. His knowledge of law and politics is an advantage, as he once opened his own law firm.

His military experience also helped him in negotiations. O'Brien rose to the rank of major in the Army. From 1996 to 1998, O'Brien served as senior legal adviser to the United Nations Security Council, handling government lawsuits against Iraq after the first Gulf War.