By Gram Slattery, Humeyra Pamuk and Jonathan Landay
WASHINGTON, June 4 (Reuters) – The White House’s top Europe expert is set to leave in the coming days, part of a staff shake-up 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 depart as a series of personnel moves effectively places more Rubio allies in key NSC roles, according to four people familiar with the changes who requested anonymity to discuss non-public personnel moves.
The moves suggest Rubio and his team may be taking a more active role in managing and staffing the NSC, a shift that could result in the once-powerful national security body regaining some of its former clout. Rubio also serves as President Donald Trump’s acting national security adviser.
European allies are increasingly anxious about the direction of U.S. policy under Trump. Trump has lately adopted a harsh tone toward many NATO allies, accusing them of failing to help the United States in its war against Iran.
It was not immediately clear why McLaughlin, a former army special operations officer with significant private-sector experience, was leaving.
A White House official said he would return to the National Defense University, a Pentagon-funded university where he had been serving as a professor. He had been detailed from the NDU, and his detail was expiring in mid-June, the official said.
European officials have told Reuters they have generally liked McLaughlin on a personal level and described him as a fair professional, but many have also seen him as more interested in normalizing relations with Russia than in applying additional pressure on Moscow.
While 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.
NSC RESHUFFLE
His departure comes amid a broader reshuffle at the NSC, which has historically coordinated national security across the U.S. government but has played a diminished role during the second Trump administration.
In late May, Robert Gabriel, one of two deputy national security advisers and a close confidant to Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, left for the private sector. Last week, State Department counselor Mike Needham, one of Rubio’s most trusted aides, moved to the NSC to become a deputy national security adviser.
Among those in the running to replace McLaughlin, the sources said, is Chris Curran, another high-ranking Rubio aide, who has been directly involved in talks to settle Russia’s war in Ukraine, though no final decisions have 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 served a central role in many important foreign policy decisions, so much so that some State Department and Pentagon officials privately complained about its primacy.
Its importance began to wane after Trump returned to office in January 2025 and purged NSC staff. In April of that year, he removed then-National Security Advisor Mike Waltz. Since then, Rubio has served in both the top diplomatic and national security roles, and most NSC staffers have been cut out of 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 NSC departures in the coming weeks.
(Reporting by Gram Slattery, Humeyra Pamuk and Jonathan Landay; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Nia Williams)
