Some of President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks and top national security staff are expected to meet Wednesday with President Joe Biden’s National Security Council in the White House to walk through how the US government responds to a range of homeland security threats and scenarios, four sources familiar with the matter told CNN.
Among the expected attendees at the meeting in the White House Situation Room, one of the sources said, are Trump’s picks for secretaries of Defense, Homeland Security and State: Pete Hegseth, Kristi Noem and Marco Rubio. A second source confirmed that Hegseth is expected to attend.
The teams will meet as the US government faces multiple challenges at home and abroad that demand the National Security Council’s attention, including deadly fires in Los Angeles and efforts to reach a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war. There are also fresh concerns in the US over terrorism after a man rammed his truck into New Year’s revelers in New Orleans earlier this month, killing 14 people and injuring more.
Participants in Wednesday’s meeting in the Situation Room are expected to discuss US policy options for responding to real-world scenarios based on the current threat environment, one of the sources said.
CNN has reached out to the Trump transition team for comment.
The National Security Council “is convening a homeland security Principals’ table top exercise, which will be chaired by (homeland security adviser) Liz Sherwood-Randall, to carry out the president’s directive to have a professional transition to ensure the security of the homeland,” an NSC spokesperson told CNN.
