The White House’s top European expert is expected to leave in the coming days, part of a staff shakeup that some sources say could give Secretary of State Marco Rubio tighter day-to-day control over policymaking at the National Security Council.
Charles McLaughlin, senior director for European and Russian affairs, is expected to leave as a series of personnel moves effectively places more of Rubio’s allies in key NSC roles, according to four people familiar with the changes who requested anonymity to discuss the non-public personnel moves.
The moves suggest that Rubio and his team could take a more active role in managing and staffing the NSC, a change that could allow the once-powerful national security agency to regain some of its former influence. Rubio is also serving as acting national security adviser to President Donald Trump.
European allies are increasingly concerned about the direction of U.S. policy under Trump. Trump has recently taken a harsh tone toward many NATO allies, accusing them of failing to help the United States in its war against Iran.
The reason for the departure of McLaughlin, a former Army special operations officer with significant experience in the private sector, was not immediately clear.
A White House official said he would return to the National Defense University, a Pentagon-funded university where he was a professor. He had been seconded from the NDU and his term expired in mid-June, the official said.
European officials said Reuters They generally liked McLaughlin on a personal level and described him as a fair professional, but many also saw him as more interested in normalizing relations with Russia than in exerting additional pressure on Moscow.
Although the foreign policy implications of McLaughlin’s departure will ultimately depend on his replacement, some European officials are hoping for someone more hawkish toward Russia.
McLaughlin did not respond to a request for comment.
Following the publication of this article, the White House objected to McLaughlin’s characterization.
“Charles McLaughlin has only advocated for President Trump’s agenda to bring peace to global conflicts, including the war between Russia and Ukraine,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said, adding that the European officials cited in this article “have no idea what they are talking about.”
NSC reshuffle
His departure comes amid a broader shakeup within the NSC, which has historically coordinated national security within the U.S. government but played a diminished role under the second Trump administration.
At the end of May, Robert Gabriel, one of the two deputy national security advisers and close confidant of chief of staff Susie Wiles, left the country for the private sector. Last week, State Department adviser Mike Needham, one of Rubio’s most trusted aides, joined the NSC to become deputy national security adviser.
Among the candidates to replace McLaughlin, the sources said, is Chris Curran, another top Rubio aide, who has been directly involved in negotiations to settle Russia’s war in Ukraine, although no final decision has been made and others are in the running. Curran, who is currently a member of the State Department’s policy planning staff, did not respond to a request for comment.
Under former President Joe Biden, the NSC played a central role in many major foreign policy decisions, so much so that some State Department and Pentagon officials privately complained about its primacy.
Its importance began to decline after Trump returned to power in January 2025 and purged NSC personnel. In April of that year, he removed then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. Since then, Rubio has held both high-level diplomatic and national security positions, and most NSC staffers have been excluded from key decisions.
Needham, the new deputy national security adviser, is among those responsible for choosing McLaughlin’s replacement, one of the sources said. Two sources said they expected additional departures from the NSC in the coming weeks.
