President Donald Trump just announced that hostage negotiator Robert C. O’Brien will serve as his next National Security Adviser:

I am pleased to announce that I will name Robert C. O’Brien, currently serving as the very successful Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs at the State Department, as our new National Security Advisor. I have worked long & hard with Robert. He will do a great job! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 18, 2019

But his news caught someone at NPR by surprise. Your tax dollars at work:

Overheard in the @npr newsroom: "Who the f**k is Robert C. O'Brien?" https://t.co/iLbBPTGp24 — Mary Louise Kelly (@NPRKelly) September 18, 2019

You know unnamed NPR person, his name was in the news:

Trump tells the pool these are the 5 finalists for national security adviser:

Amb. Robert O’Brien

Gen. Ricky Waddell

DOE Under Secretary Lisa E. Gordon-Hagerty

Fred Fleitz

Pence National Security Adviser Keith Kellogg — Jeremy Diamond (@JDiamond1) September 17, 2019

And from a few days ago:

UPDATE on the state of NSA play – Robert O'BRIEN was in the West Wing yesterday for extensive meetings, including with POTUS, per ppl who saw him there. He's said to be a top contender. — Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) September 14, 2019

In short, this is not a surprising pick at all:

Add to this list of people under consideration to replace Bolton Robert O'Brien, the Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs, who went to Sweden to oversee the trial of A$AP Rocky for Trump. https://t.co/9vT0Ofcll0 — Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) September 11, 2019

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