Trump Just Hired the Guy He Sent to Free A$AP Rocky as His New National Security Adviser

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an hour ago
The special envoy, Ambassador Robert O’Brien, was seen at Stockholm District Court in the morning. A biographical statement on the State Department’s website says O’Brien “leads the U.S. government’s diplomatic efforts on overseas hostage-related matters.”


Trump Just Hired the Guy He Sent to Free A$AP Rocky as His New National Security Adviser
“I am pleased to announce that I will name Robert C. O’Brien," Trump tweeted Wednesday.

by Emma Ockerman
Sep 18 2019, 9:53am

President Donald Trump just named a new national security advisor: the same guy he sent to Sweden to deal with rapper A$AP Rocky’s recent assault trial.

“I am pleased to announce that I will name Robert C. O’Brien, currently serving as the very successful Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs at the State Department, as our new National Security Advisor,” Trump wrote on Twitter Wednesday. “I have worked long & hard with Robert. He will do a great job!”

O’Brien takes over the helm from John Bolton, whom Trump fired last week, although Bolton has repeatedly disputed that he was fired. O’Brien, also a founding partner of a Los Angeles-based law firm, is the fourth national security adviser to serve in Trump’s tumultuous first presidential term. His position does not require Senate confirmation.

A hostage negotiator trained to deal with war-torn countries like Syria and Yemen, O'Brien was dispatched to Stockholm to #FreeRocky at Trump’s request in July. A month earlier, Rocky was arrested and detained for engaging in a street brawl in the nation’s capital, although the U.S. Embassy in Stockholm repeatedly called for his release.

After Trump tweeted advocating for Rocky's freedom, O’Brien threatened “negative consequences” in a diplomatic letter released by the Swedish Prosecution Authority. Rocky was later found guilty of assault but avoided any further jail time and returned to the U.S. Critics saw O’Brien’s arrival as inappropriate, considering he was intervening in an allied country’s affairs, according to the Washington Post.



But he's not just famous for threatening Sweden for immediate release of Kim Kardashian sister's boyfriend and FLOTUS supported Somali-American rapper Rocky A$AP, new MAGA pick is also a strong supporter of our closest ally and only Jewish democracy in mideast:


Trump's new NSA pick is a strong supporter of Israeli settlements on Palestinian land and opponent of Obama Iran deal

In 2015 and 2016, O’Brien expressed strong opposition to the Iran nuclear deal, at one point comparing it to the 1938 Munich Agreement with Nazi Germany. He also wrote an article encouraging Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, who ran against Trump in the 2016 Republican primary, to criticize Trump over his wish to improve relations with Russia’s Vladimir Putin. His views are typical to the Republican establishment foreign policy world view.

In 2017, he published an article about how Israel was being discriminated against in the United Nations. The article attacked the Obama administration for not vetoing a U.N. Security Council resolution against Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. He said that the resolution “has done nothing to advance the peace process”.





Related


A$AP Rocky Says He's Going Back to Sweden to Help Immigrants

11/19/2019
A$AP is donating proceeds from his concert in Stockholm to an immigrant rights org called FARR, the Swedish Network of Refugee Support Group

A$AP Rocky says his time behind bars in Sweden is exactly why he's returning to that country -- which seems insane -- but he's on a mission to help the inmates and immigrants he met there.
We got the rapper Tuesday evening outside the swanky Rick Owens clothing store in NYC and asked why in the world he'd go back. A$AP says the month in jail for his assault case opened his eyes to the plight of immigrants. He says he was especially aware of the support he was getting, as a celeb, while some prisoners around him were rotting for 10 months or more before seeing a judge.
He's on a mission to change that. For starters, A$AP says he's donating proceeds from his December 11 concert in Stockholm to an immigrant rights org called FARR, the Swedish Network of Refugee Support Groups.
tmz.com/2019/11/19/asap-rocky-sweden-concert-immigration-prisoners-donald-trump/



Trump and Rocky A$AP supporters launch boycott of Swedish brands
U.S. warned Sweden of 'negative consequences' if ASAP Rocky wasn't released

Aug. 3, 2019
The U.S. government warned Sweden of "negative consequences" as it advocated for rapper ASAP Rocky during his trial for assault charges in Stockholm this week, according to a pair of letters released by the Swedish Prosecution Authority.
According to the letters, obtained by NBC News partner Aftonbladet, the U.S. special presidential envoy for hostage affairs wrote to Swedish prosecutors urging them to release Rocky.
"The government of the United States of America wants to resolve this case as soon as possible to avoid potentially negative consequences to the U.S.-Swedish bilateral relationship," Amb. Robert O'Brien wrote in the letter, dated Wednesday.
In response Sweden's prosecutor-general, Petra Lundh, defended the independence of Swedish courts and said he therefore had to deny O'Brien's requests.
"No other prosecutor, not even I, may interfere with a specific case or try to affect the prosecutor responsible," Lundh wrote in a letter dated Thursday.
The letters marked the latest intervention by U.S. officials in a case that has commanded the attention of figures ranging from the president to Justin Bieber.
Rocky, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, was arrested and charged with assault over a street brawl in the Swedish capital on June 30.
Trump began weighing in on the case last month following outcry from celebrities including reality TV star Kim Kardashian-West and musician Rod Stewart.
Trump said he spoke to Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven asking for his release and "offered to personally vouch for his bail."



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