President-elect Donald Trump's first few national security staffing picks were neocon restorations. He filled his administration with figures who wanted a return to the heady old days after 9/11, when every problem in the world had a U.S. military solution. But over the Thanksgiving vacation, Trump choose two new senior officials who might push back on the foreign and domestic war on terror.
Kash Patel, the former prosecutor and Pentagon official whom Trump chose to lead the FBI, wants to roll back a large part of the surveillance state. And Massad Boulos, the father-in-law of Trump's daughter who has been tapped to be senior adviser on Middle Eastern and Arab affairs, signals a willingness to engage in serious negotiations over the region.
