Sebastian Gorka’s Missing Counterterrorism Strategy: Promises Unfulfilled as Threats Rise

March tested U.S. counterterrorism agencies like a stress test. The month began with a gunman in an Iranian-flag shirt killing three people at a Texas bar. Then came an attack using homemade explosives outside the mayor’s mansion in New York City. On March 12, a deadly shooting occurred on a Virginia college campus, followed that same afternoon by a car-ramming at a Michigan synagogue. Days later, federal agents arrested a man accused of threatening a mass shooting at an Ohio mosque.

To current and former national security officials, these incidents were omens of the dangers they had predicted in 2019, when President Donald Trump began shifting counterterrorism resources toward his mass deportation campaign. They warned that diminished capacity would leave the U.S. vulnerable if global events inflamed threats at home and abroad.

Now, with the war in Iran escalating, the Trump administration faces a showdown with a sophisticated state sponsor of terrorism at a time when U.S. security agencies have lost expertise and leadership is unstable. The urgency of the moment has put a spotlight on Sebastian Gorka, the White House counterterrorism adviser tasked with drafting a blueprint to address both homegrown and international threats.

Gorka’s Repeated Promises of a Counterterrorism Strategy

Nearly a year ago, Gorka declared a national counterterrorism strategy was “imminent.” By July, he said the plan was “on the cusp” of release—a phrase he repeated in October and again in January. To date, no strategy has been published, nor has an explanation for the delay been provided.

When the strategy is finally released, current and former counterterrorism personnel expect a document driven by politics rather than intelligence. They also doubt it will include meaningful details on combating threats after a year of deep cuts across national security agencies.

“Strategies are only worth the amount of resources you put into them. We’re entering very dangerous territory.”

A former senior official who served in the first Trump administration

Sebastian Gorka: From Gatecrasher to Counterterrorism Czar

The shifting promises are consistent with the reputation of Sebastian Gorka, a figure known for his brash demeanor and quick temper in Washington’s traditionally reserved defense establishment. His public statements often mix grandiose language with a booming, British-accented voice.

ProPublica interviewed more than two dozen national security specialists across party lines to trace Gorka’s rise to one of the most sensitive roles in government. Nearly all spoke on condition of anonymity due to the Trump administration’s history of retaliation against critics.

Colleagues describe his tenure as a reflection of the broader transformation of U.S. counterterrorism priorities during Trump’s second term. What was once eye-rolling over Gorka’s bombast has evolved into concern about the administration’s ability to detect and prevent major plots.

Gorka’s First Term: A Short-Lived Tenure

In Trump’s first administration, Gorka lasted just seven months before being forced out by what staffers at the time called the “adults in the room”—the more moderate voices around the president. During that brief period, he reportedly struggled to obtain security clearance and faced backlash over alleged ties to extremist groups, which he has denied.