Trump's new special Ukraine negotiator

It’s said that when President Trump talks about his man in the room with the Russians and the Ukrainians, he still simply refers to Dan Driscoll as the “drone guy”. There’s more to Driscoll, however, than his espousal of the virtues of technology on the modern battlefield. Already a rising star in Trump’s firmament after his appointment, at 38, as the youngest US Army secretary in US history, he has now been plucked to be the president’s point man to end the war in Ukraine. In an administration where a meteoric rise can often be followed by a stratospheric fall, insiders suggest that Driscoll may prove to be a survivor in Team Trump. Indeed, some Washington sources suggest Driscoll is more trusted by the White House than his Pentagon boss, Pete Hegseth, the Defence Secretary, to deliver sensitive messages on the world stage. It was notably Driscoll, not Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, nor Steve Witkoff, Trump’s ubiquitous special envoy, nor Hegseth, who was personally chosen by the president to meet with President Zelensky in Kyiv to outline the 28-point peace plan which had been crafted between the US and Russia, without Ukrainian participation. Now Driscoll is in Abu Dhabi, speaking with an official Russian delegation to discuss the Trump peace package which has unnerved Kyiv and European leaders and led to a counter proposal, with some of the most controversial clauses deleted to form a 19-point settlement proposal. So trusted is Driscoll in the White House that he is effectively on his own with the Russians, according to sources. There is no pack of diplomats and military officials to back him up. One former senior Pentagon official explained his extraordinary new status in the Trump administration: “He is a Yale law roommate of JD Vance.” While it is true Driscoll is a longstanding friend of the vice president, he has made such an impression since he took over as army secretary (the civilian head of the army), rumours have been circulating for weeks that he is the natural replacement for Hegseth, were Trump to take against the former Fox News presenter. Hegseth’s leadership of the Pentagon has been beset with wholesale sackings and warnings of lie-detector tests for suspected disloyal officials. Reports of a personality clash with Driscoll have been dismissed by Hegseth as fake news. Colleagues say it is unlikely that Driscoll would have clashed with Hegseth. He is personable, easy-going but also super-efficient and has won praise from within Congress for being open and cooperative. Born in Boone, North Carolina, he came from a family with a military background. His grandfather served in the army in the Second World War as a decoder and his father was an infantryman in Vietnam. He was commissioned in the army in 2007 and saw active service in Iraq in 2009 with the 10th Mountain Division, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. After leaving active duty, he went to Yale law school where he met and befriended the future vice president. He then moved into investment banking and at one point was chief operating officer of a $200 million venture capital fund. He married his high school sweetheart and they have two children. He caught Trump’s eye because of his espousal of drones as the way forward, encouraging and inspiring army chiefs to adapt to the new style of warfare, highlighted so dramatically in the war between Russia and Ukraine. “He’s a serious guy who is willing to have a conversation in a way that is both professional and shows he has a cogent worldview,” a Democratic congressman told reporters. Driscoll has been present at all the recent meetings arranged to promote the latest Ukraine peace efforts. After a few days in Kyiv, accompanied by General Randy George, US Army chief of staff, he flew to Geneva to join Rubio and other diplomats for discussions with European officials, including Jonathan Powell, UK national security adviser; and, finally, to Abu Dhabi, arriving on Monday evening. As chief executive of an organisation consisting of nearly one million active, national guard and reserve soldiers and more than 265,000 civilians, Driscoll always had three goals: to serve in the military, to attend law school and to be in politics. His political ambitions have yet to be realised but with Trump and Vance behind him, he looks set for a glowing future. BUY AGENT REDRUTH, MY NEW SPY THRILLER, A PAPERBACK DESCRIBED AS BRILLIANT AND EXCITING BY REVIEWERS