United States National Security Council

The National Security Council is the principal White House body for coordinating US national security and Foreign Policy, established by the National Security Act of 1947. It is chaired by the President, with statutory members including the Vice President and the Secretaries of state and Defense, and its day-to-day work runs through the National Security Adviser and NSC staff, who prepare options and coordinate policy across the State Department, Pentagon and intelligence community via the Principals and Deputies Committees.

In Trump's second term, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has held the National Security Adviser role concurrently since 2025, with Mike Needham promoted to Deputy National Security Adviser in May 2026. The arrangement means NSC coordination and State Department diplomacy now run through the same office, a concentration the 1947 reform's separate roles were originally designed to avoid, last matched by Henry Kissinger's dual tenure in the 1970s.

During the 2026 Iran conflict the NSC's portfolio has spanned military command authority, OFAC designation coordination and the diplomatic track through Oman, with formal NSC process running alongside Steve Witkoff's more informal envoy channel on the same file.