{"id":44790,"date":"2026-08-14T17:22:38","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T12:22:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=44790"},"modified":"2026-08-14T17:22:38","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T12:22:38","slug":"scoop-key-w-h-national-security-aide-andy-baker-is-departing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=44790","title":{"rendered":"Scoop: Key W.H. national security aide Andy Baker is departing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.axios.com\/BEtQJjrOjQaQcs0vcJzEi-577ns=\/0x0:6000x3375\/1366x768\/2026\/08\/14\/1786667476872.jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>White House deputy <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/05\/22\/trump-iran-meeting-resume-war-deal\" target=\"_blank\">national security<\/a> adviser Andy Baker is leaving the administration in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Why it matters:<\/strong> Baker, who also served as national security advisor to Vice President Vance, was among the staffers most central to the administration&#8217;s foreign policy and national security decision-making over the last 18 months.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<ul>\n<li>Baker was also personally involved in negotiations with Iran this year. <\/li>\n<li>Cliff Sims, who succeeded Baker as Vance&#8217;s national security adviser earlier this summer, will continue in that role. Mike Needham will continue as White House deputy national security adviser.<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;This has been an amazing journey. I&#8217;m proud of everything we&#8217;ve achieved and, of course, am incredibly grateful to the President, Vice President, and Secretary Rubio,&#8221; Baker told Axios in a statement.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Catch up quick:<\/strong> Baker served as a foreign service officer at the State Department several years ago and then joined then-Sen. Vance&#8217;s team as a national security advisor.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Between the lines:<\/strong> A source close to Baker said he wants to spend more time with his family and stayed on months longer than planned to ensure an orderly transition to Sims and Needham. <\/p>\n<p><strong>What to watch:<\/strong> Baker is expected to work in the private sector with Robert O&#8217;Brien, who served as President Trump&#8217;s fourth national security advisor during his first term. <\/p>\n<p><strong>What they&#8217;re saying:<\/strong> Baker&#8217;s colleagues heaped praise on him.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;Andy is an exceptionally gifted, deeply thoughtful advisor who has served the President and me with distinction. He has been an indispensable member of our administration&#8217;s national security team,&#8221; Vance told Axios in a statement. <\/li>\n<li>Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who also serves as White House national security advisor, said Baker has been &#8220;an invaluable asset and key member of the President&#8217;s national security team who has greatly advanced the America First agenda.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Needham called Baker &#8220;a brilliant foreign policy mind and close friend.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>And Trump&#8217;s special envoy Steve Witkoff said in a statement: &#8220;From day one, Andy has worked tirelessly to put America first and get deals done for the President around the world.&#8221; <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>White House deputy national security adviser Andy Baker is leaving the administration in the coming weeks. Why it matters: Baker, who also served as national security advisor to Vice President Vance, was among the staffers most central to the administration&#8217;s foreign policy and national security decision-making over the last 18 months. Baker was also personally&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44791,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/images.axios.com\/BEtQJjrOjQaQcs0vcJzEi-577ns=\/0x0:6000x3375\/1366x768\/2026\/08\/14\/1786667476872.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=44790"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44790\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/44791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=44790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=44790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=44790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}