Washington– Within days, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll jumped from being the leader of the military bureaucracy — cutting red tape to quickly buy cheap drones — to Master negotiator As the Trump administration seeks to end the matter The Russian-Ukrainian war.
The boyish Iraq War veteran, former venture capitalist and friend of Vice President J.D. Vance has left the show President Donald Trump’s plan To Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev to sit with Russian officials in the United Arab Emirates on Monday and Tuesday, led by The final stage of the talks Regarding a possible agreement to stop the fighting.
Trump appears to believe Driscoll’s efforts are going well, posting on social media that “my team has made tremendous progress.”
“In hopes of finalizing this peace plan, I have directed my Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to meet with President Putin in Moscow, and at the same time, Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll will meet with the Ukrainians,” Trump wrote on Tuesday.
It is an unlikely task for the military’s top civilian commander I got the job in February At the age of 38 years. His Senate confirmation hearing focused on how the military could modernize its systems, improve recruiting operations and strengthen the military industrial base, not international diplomacy.
Driscoll did not learn of his new role as negotiator until about a week before his arrival He sits across the table from ZelenskyAn American official said.
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive plans, said Driscoll had always planned to visit Ukraine, but the trip was intended to learn more about how its military operates. The use of drones in warNot to negotiate peace.
The official said that after Driscoll was appointed special representative by the White House, he first traveled to Europe for briefings before heading to Ukraine.
There, Driscoll shook hands with Zelensky and expressed her admiration for Ukrainian soldiers, saying that even the most battle-hardened American troops “have never had to defend their homeland.”
“When we, the military, look and see how well you’re doing, that’s amazing,” Driscoll told Zelensky last week. The Ukrainian leader said he spoke for about an hour on Friday with Vance and Driscoll about the proposal.
Driscoll’s performance in Ukraine appears to have paid off, because from there he joined Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Witkoff and other top negotiators in Geneva. To discuss changes in the plan with the Ukrainians Before traveling to Abu Dhabi to negotiate with the Russians. The official said negotiations with Moscow were just a possibility just a week ago.
Some experts say that his role in the negotiations is outside the box Action by the Trump administration Which may or may not come to fruition.
“I think what is useful from this administration is its willingness to put forward ideas and try things,” said Max Bergmann, director of the Europe, Russia and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. But he added: “Honestly, I haven’t heard about Dan Driscoll in the Ukrainian-Russian talks at all.”
Driscoll’s value lies in his relationship with the vice president, Bergman said. Driscoll has known Vance since his time at Yale Law School and previously served as an advisor to Vance, giving the Army secretary a direct line to — and more influence — to the Trump administration. During negotiations.
“There’s something to be said for having someone who maybe texts the vice president and therefore has that political juice,” said Bergman, who served in State Department positions during President Barack Obama’s administration.
But Bergman said there is also an advantage in having experience, especially on an issue as high-stakes as Russia’s war with Ukraine: “Details really matter here.”
Daniel Fried, a fellow at the Atlantic Council and a former US ambassador to Poland, said Driscoll could overcome his lack of experience if he had someone to advise him. Additionally, the fact that management has Driscoll’s trust is a notable advantage.
“You don’t want to have someone who reaches a handshake agreement with the Ukrainians or the Russians and doesn’t have the trust of the upper echelons of the Trump administration,” Fried said.
Driscoll’s resume does not indicate that he would be a senior American negotiator trying to end Europe’s longest war since 1945, although he had ambitions to become a politician.
Driscoll told senators during his confirmation hearing that he “joined the Army as a middle-class public school kid from the mountains of North Carolina,” noting that his father was an Army infantryman in Vietnam and his grandfather was an Army codebreaker in World War II.
“More importantly, I intend to be the secretary of the Army’s soldiers, not the generals or the bureaucracy,” he said in his opening remarks. “He is the American soldier entrusted with national defense and prosperity.”
He went to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, enrolled in its business school and graduated in three years, according to a profile on the school’s website.
Driscoll served in the Army as an armor officer for more than three years and achieved the rank of first lieutenant. He was deployed to Iraq from October 2009 to July 2010.
After graduating from law school, Driscoll worked at venture capital firms. He ran unsuccessfully in the Republican primary for a North Carolina congressional seat in 2020, receiving about 8% of the vote in a crowded field of candidates.
Driscoll has some negotiating experience as Army secretary, including the Army’s need to continue using the only large-scale live-fire training range for ground forces in Hawaii so it can quickly send troops to the Asia-Pacific.
A public hearing in May on extending the lease Hours born of testimony Against allowing the army to remain. Many Native Hawaiians and environmental activists are disturbed by the U.S. military’s history of land destruction Target practice and Fuel leakage They said they wanted to return the land to the state.
Driscoll visited Hawaii in July to discuss the matter with Democratic Hawaii Gov. Josh Green, who said he spent a lot of time talking to Driscoll and his team.
“The discussions are cordial and still in their early stages,” Greene’s office said this week.