Jewish expert on Egypt to join National Security Council as Middle East director
Eric Trager would replace Brett McGurk, who has played a central role in the Biden administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war
Eric Trager speaks during a 2017 event about religious minorities in Egypt. (Screenshot from YouTube)
(JTA) — Eric Trager, a Jewish Republican Senate staffer and Egypt expert, is President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Middle East advisor on the National Security Council, multiple news organizations reported.
As senior director for the Middle East and North Africa, the top advisory role on Middle East issues, Trager would replace Brett McGurk, who has played a central role in the Biden administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war.
The senior director will advise Trump on two of the incoming president’s top priorities: ending the war in Gaza and brokering new agreements between Israel and Arab countries. Four such deals, known collectively as the Abraham Accords, were struck during Trump’s first term.
Trager will bring to the role expertise honed over years as a research fellow at the Washington Institute For Near East Policy, where he focused on Egypt, Islamism and U.S. policy, according to his Linkedin profile. He authored a 2016 book about the rise and fall of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, which he later condemned as an “international hate group” seeking to launder its reputation abroad.
Trager has most recently been a staffer for the Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee. A 2005 Harvard University graduate with a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania, he has donated to a Washington, D.C., synagogue and to Harvard Hillel, according to those organizations’ fundraising reports. On his account on the social network X, he has shared posts advocating for the Israeli hostages in Gaza and criticizing the International Criminal Court’s indictment of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump’s transition team has not yet confirmed the appointment, which would add Trager to the list of administration officials with Middle East-related responsibilities. Steve Witkoff, Trump’s pick for Middle East envoy, is already participating in talks aimed at achieving a ceasefire and hostage release deal in the Israel-Hamas war, while Trump announced that he had reluctantly selected Morgan Ortagus as Witkoff’s top deputy.
News of Trager’s appointment quickly drew praise from conservatives and pro-Israel voices on social media.
“While nothing is official until you read it on Truth Social, reports that my good friend and longtime colleague Eric Trager may be tapped as NSC Senior Director for the Middle East and North Africa are very exciting,” tweeted Rich Goldberg, a senior adviser to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “Play time is over for the mullahs and Muslim Brotherhood.”
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