May 26 (Reuters) – State Department Counselor Michael Needham, a longtime aide to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, has been promoted to the post of assistant to the president and deputy national security adviser, a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
In the post, Needham would serve along with Rubio, who is President Donald Trump’s acting national security adviser as well as the top U.S. diplomat.
Needham was chief of staff to Rubio in the U.S. Senate, and before that, served as chief executive of Heritage Action for America, a grassroots group dedicated to promoting conservative values and policies.
At the State Department, he recently participated when Rubio hosted the first direct talks between Israel and Lebanon in decades.
Axios first reported the appointment.
(Reporting by Anusha Shah in BengaluruEditing by Bernadette Baum)
