Trump’s Egyptian advisor leaves office 2 days after Jerusalem decision – Middle East Monitor

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20171212-trumps-egyptian-advisor-leaves-office-2-days-after-jerusalem-decision/#

Trump's Egyptian advisor leaves office 2 days after Jerusalem decision

December 12, 2017 at 10:44 am | Published in: Africa, Asia & Americas, Egypt, Israel, Middle East, News, Palestine, US

Dina Habib Powell is an Egyptian-American philanthropist, and U.S. policymaker. She is the current U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategy to President Donald Trump [Twitter]

December 12, 2017 at 10:44 am

Dina Powell, the senior presidential advisor who has been active in the revival of the peace process and was deputy national security adviser, resigned from the White House two days after US President Donald Trump announced that his administration would recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Official channels have said Powell's departure has been expected because she had only ever planned to remain in office one year, however sources have stressed that her decision was based on Trump's move in support of Israel.

Powell played a key role in Trump's Middle East diplomacy initiative with lead diplomats describing her as a "secret weapon", according to The Times newspaper.

Dina Habib Powell

She was born in Cairo in 1973. When Powell was four, her Coptic Christian parents moved the family to Dallas, Texas, where her father worked as a bus driver and both parents ran a small shop. She married senior public affairs executive Richard Powell in 1988

Powell, an Egyptian-American, is one of the key players in US diplomatic efforts in the Middle East. According to the American magazine Business Insider, her departure is the first significant withdrawal from the White House since August, when Steve Bannon left his position as a strategic expert in the White House.

Read: Nearly every ex-US ambassador to Israel denounces Trump's Jerusalem decision

A senior US administration official said Powell was likely to be replaced by National Security Advisor Nadia Schadlow who was working with Powell to develop a new US national security strategy which is expected to be announced in the next two weeks.

Dina Habib Powell had the clear support of Ivanka Trump before becoming deputy national security advisor. She is one of the few figures in Trump's administration who has political experience having already worked under former President George W. Bush administration.

Although she is only 44 years old, Powell is one of the most experienced White House officials.

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