WASHINGTON ¨C Donald Trump¡¯s selection of top hostage-affairs official Robert O¡¯Brien as his new national security adviser sends a clear signal the president is seeking to turn the page from the confrontation and controversy that defined John Bolton¡¯s tenure in the job.
Bolton regularly picked ideological fights with Cabinet secretaries and the president over the approach to hotspots such as Afghanistan and Iraq.
O¡¯Brien, meanwhile, is a former corporate litigator and lawyer with the military¡¯s Judge Advocate General¡¯s Corps who is seen as an ally of Secretary of State Michael Pompeo. People who know both men say O¡¯Brien will help mediate disputes, not create them.
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