Pure Gold: CBS' Margaret Brennan Gets Served a Real Lesson by Robert Gates on Trump and the NSC

One of the most astonishing things that Democrats have been trying to sell in President Donald Trump's second term is the idea that somehow he doesn't have the right to run the Executive Branch, that he can't fire people who work in the branch that he runs. Instead, they seem to be arguing that the bureaucracy is in charge, not the president.

But if you had any argument about any of the other aspects of the Executive Branch, the National Security Council, by its very definition — the body that advises the president on national security and foreign policy — is under the control of the president.

As Matt Vespa at our sister site Townhall observed, during a segment on "Face the Nation" with former Obama Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, host Margaret Brennan tried to whip up some "panic porn" that Trump might not trust the NSC or people in the intelligence community. Gee, why would that be after we had things like the 51 former intelligence officials signing the letter about the Hunter Biden laptop having the earmarks of a Russian disinformation operation?

But if Brennan thought that Robert Gates was going to agree with her, she had a rude awakening and a real schooling about the purpose of the NSC.

President Trump "has a right to expect loyalty" by National Security Council staff and "if you hold views that are unacceptable to the president" on issues like the 2020 election, "you don't belong inside the White House complex," former Defense Secretary Robert Gates says.

"I… pic.twitter.com/XXrHa8FbUs
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) May 18, 2025

"I think it's important to remember that the NSC is the president's personal foreign policy staff," Gates explained. He said he didn't care where they came from, but if anyone on that staff couldn't "be loyal to the president, then they should leave."

Brennan acted as though she didn't understand what he said, "What do you mean loyal?"

Gates made it very simple: If you're the president's advisor, you should be...gasp... "embracing" the president's policies. What a concept. That's the way it's always worked. Except now, with Trump, the media/Democrats want to suggest that it's the blob that controls/determines policy, not the president. "I think he has a right to expect loyalty," Gates declared. "My line when I was at the NSC was 'Be loyal or be gone.'"

Brennan asked if that was true, if a person differed from Trump on the 2020 election. Gates said yes, "if you hold views that are unacceptable to the president...you don't belong inside the White House complex."

"I think you need to give the president your honest views on things, on the subjects that you're in charge of. And it may be unwelcome to him, but he needs to hear different perspectives and different points of view...Being loyal doesn't mean pulling your punches in terms of the policy debate, but once the president's made a decision, then you have to salute."

I think it's fair to say that she wasn't expecting that. That's the last thing the media wants to hear anyone propound about Trump. But it's the truth, whether they like it or not. They're the ones trying to turn what is normal upside down, with Democrats trying to stop Trump's agenda.

But Gates squashed that and served up a lesson here.

Editor's Note: President Trump is leading America into the "Golden Age" as Democrats try desperately to stop it.

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