Franco Ordoñez is a White House Correspondent for NPR's Washington Desk. Before he came to NPR in 2019, Ordoñez covered the White House for McClatchy. He has also written about diplomatic affairs, foreign policy and immigration, and has been a correspondent in Cuba, Colombia, Mexico and Haiti.
The NSC has traditionally played a pivotal role in advising the president for his biggest diplomatic and security decisions. But in Trump's second term, it has seen its influence shrink.
There was a lot of pomp on President Trump's Middle East trip, but not much talk about the biggest diplomatic challenge in the region — the war in Gaza.
President Trump returns to Washington Friday after a four-day tour through the Gulf where he struck business deals and was treated like royalty by the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE.