Extremist Trump Adviser Scheming to Get Top Counterterrorism Gig

Sebastian Gorka is angling to become the next head of the National Counterterrorism Center.Gorka, a former Breitbart News editor and conservative radio personality, has served as a deputy assistant to the president and senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council since January 2025.The London-born Hungarian has been a fixture in Donald Trump’s inner circle since 2017, though his appointment to Trump’s first administration came as a surprise to many in his field. Gorka had previously been known for his extremist, Islamophobic views, which relegated him to the fringes of Washington. Even during Trump’s first term, Gorka’s work was stunted after he failed to obtain the security clearance necessary to actually work on national security issues.The position at the National Counterterrorism Center has been open since Joe Kent resigned last month over the war in Iran. In his exit letter, Kent argued that Iran “posed no imminent threat” to the U.S., and that there was no available intel suggesting that Iran was trying to develop nuclear weapons.Gorka does not agree. Last month, he told the Council on Foreign Relations that he believed Operation Epic Fury would “solve perhaps the most trenchant and strategic terrorist threat the world faces today.”Four people familiar with Gorka’s potential political ascension told The Washington Post Wednesday that it would give him “broad powers over the country’s vast counterterrorism apparatus.”His influence could make the country a hostile place for anyone the administration deems a leftist. At the National Security Council, Gorka has advocated to expand the definition of terrorist threats to include far-left groups. His work bore a result: In September, the White House branded antifa—a catchall for self-described antifascists—a terrorist organization. The executive order deemed antifa a “domestic terrorist organization,” although the Post reported that no such label exists in federal law.