WASHINGTON — A group of national security experts led by Cabinet members from the Trump administration endorsed former President Donald Trump on Wednesday, citing his foreign policy record and calling him "a peacemaker."
The group, organized by former Trump national security adviser Robert O'Brien and former National Security Council chief of staff Alex Gray, wrote in a letter that "securing peace" is "the legacy of Trump."
The signers, numbering more than 300, include former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, who ran against Trump in this year's Republican primaries, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and former National Intelligence Director John Ratcliffe.
The letter comes amid an escalating conflict in the Middle East between Iran and Israel, as well as Russia's war in Ukraine. Trump recently compared the Middle East conflict to a "schoolyard fight" and said he would negotiate a deal "that's good for both sides" in the Russia-Ukraine war.
Shortly before the letter was released, federal prosecutors led by special counsel Jack Smith argued in a 165-page filing that many of Trump’s actions in the wake of his loss are not subject to a recent Supreme Court decision granting broad immunity to presidents for official acts. Prosecutors say Trump and co-conspirators, working in their private and campaign capacities rather than in service of official duties, illegally tried to block Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 election.
One of the signers of Wednesday's letter was former Attorney General William Barr, who last year called the Jan. 6 prosecution a "legitimate case."
"There was very grave wrongdoing here," Barr told PBS at the time. "And I think it’s reasonable to say that it falls within the obstruction of a proceeding."
The former national security officials did not mention the Jan. 6 case in their letter, but it offers a counterpoint to critics who contend that Trump's behavior put the nation at risk. They wrote that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have failed to keep the country safe.
"The policies of the Biden-Harris Administration have invited conflict, diminished America’s standing around the globe, and imperiled our national security," the letter says. "Over the last four years, peace throughout the world has been upended by America’s emboldened adversaries."
A person familiar with the effort to collect signatures and write the letter, which refers to the Sermon on the Mount and “the Judeo-Christian principles upon which our nation was founded,” said it proves Trump would be able to fill a new administration with top-quality aides.
"This letter shows the establishment and the left are woefully inaccurate in saying the president would not attract top talent in term two," the person said.
The signers do not include Trump's first secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, or his secretaries of defense, James Mattis and Mark Esper.
