The man who advises Vice President Kamala Harris on national security has political views on Iran and the Middle East that have effectively undermined U.S. interests in the region, former U.S. officials and defense experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Philip Gordon currently serves as Harris’ national security and foreign policy adviser as she campaigns ahead of the November election against former President Donald Trump. While Harris appears to have less expertise in foreign policy and national security, Gordon has decades of experience, particularly in Middle Eastern affairs. But his past positions on dealing with Iran – such as his role in crafting the Iran nuclear deal – have failed to make Tehran less hostile to the US, and his views and predictions about the wider Middle East region appear to have been wrong or misleading, experts told DCNF. (RELATED: ‘She controlled a lot of our border policy’: Vance Spars with ABC host on Harris’ role on illegal immigration)
“Mr. Gordon has extensive diplomatic experience. He knows how government works, how decisions are made, and how to navigate bureaucracy. But that does not mean he will provide sound policy advice that will result in strengthened American global leadership, Morgan Viña, a former Defense Department official and adviser to Ambassador Nikki Haley, told DCNF.
“If you look at his policy, his recommendations, his analysis — he’s consistently wrong,” Gabriel Noronha, a former State Department official and current executive director at Polaris National Security, told DCNF.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris delivers opening remarks while hosting a working luncheon with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Leaders with her National Security Advisor Philip Gordon (R) during a two-day State Department summit on May 13, 2022, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Gordon’s team defended his record and policies, and a US official told DCNF that he has spent “decades of his career as a national security expert and public servant respected on both sides of the aisle.”
Gordon’s role in Obama’s world
After many years of previous experience in the public and private sectors, Gordon joined the Obama administration in 2009 and moved on to the White House National Security Council (NSC) in 2013, assuming the role of “the most senior official in the White House with a focus on the greater Middle East” until 2015, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.
Gordon helped draft the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action — known informally as the Iran nuclear deal — in 2015 and was a vocal supporter of the deal after he left the White House, according to NPR and several statements written by Gordon. The nuclear deal was a multinational agreement spearheaded by the Obama administration to curb Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
Former President Donald Trump pulled out of the deal in 2018, arguing that it failed to prevent Iran from advancing its nuclear program while allowing Tehran to enrich itself under sanctions. After pulling out of the deal, Trump launched a “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran and reimposed tough sanctions to prevent the regime from taking revenue.
In various statements, Gordon has publicly condemned Trump’s decision and called on the administration to lift the sanctions. Before Trump pulled the US out of the deal, Gordon incorrectly predicted in a statement that the move “could lead to war” with Iran. (RELATED: Kamala Harris to roll out first major economic policy)
“[Gordon] has advocated for a reduction of US power in the region, advocated for a range of Iranian interests and fought against measures that would strengthen US deterrence,” Noronha told DCNF.
Philip Gordon, Assistant to the President of the United States and National Security Advisor to the Vice President, speaks during the Herzliya Conference at Reichman University in Herzliya on June 24, 2024. (Photo: GIL COHEN-MAGEN/AFP via Getty Images)
Working with Harris
After Gordon left the White House in 2015, he joined the Council on Foreign Relations, focusing on US policy toward the Middle East and Europe. He issued numerous op-eds on world affairs and the Trump administration’s foreign and national security policies from 2016 to 2020, and appeared in a variety of media outlets, according to his biography provided by the Council on Foreign Relations. Gordon is the author of several books, including his most recent work, “Losing the Long Game: The False Promise of Regime Change in the Middle East” in 2021.
When President Joe Biden took office in 2021, Gordon began working for Harris and subsequently became her principal national security adviser in 2022. The Biden administration’s policies toward Iran have aimed to bring the country back to a nuclear deal by pursuing diplomatic methods, even allowing that regime to raise billions of dollars through eased sanctions and the release of funds to which it otherwise did not have access.
“Since President Biden took office, American deterrence has eroded and has failed to prevent Iran from malign regional influence or nuclear weapons. There is no indication that Mr. Gordon’s approach to foreign policy will deviate from this current trajectory,” Viña told DCNF.
Experts and lawmakers recently raised concerns that a number of the statements written by Gordon were co-authored with Ariane Tabatabai, a senior Pentagon official, scholar and member of the Iranian Experts Initiative, an advocacy network created to bolster Tehran’s public image. Gordon also spoke at a 2016 National Iranian American Council (NIAC) conference, an organization that has been accused of acting as the lobbying arm of the Islamic regime in the United States, according to Influence Watch.
Republican Senator Tom Cotton and Representative Elise Stefanik sent a letter in late July to Harris’ office expressing concern about Gordon’s association with Tabatabai and NIAC, and demanding answers from Harris about whether she was aware of his connections, or whether he went through a screening process to obtain a security clearance.
Cotton and Stefanik requested a response from Harris by August 9. An aide to Cotton told DCNF that they had not yet received a response. (RELATED: Prominent Pollster Says Democrats ‘Probably’ Made ‘Mistake’ Going After RFK Jr. As He ‘Now Takes More Votes From Trump’)
In a meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu, @VP made clear her unwavering support for Israel’s security and her concerns over the humanitarian crisis and civilian casualties in Gaza and destabilizing activities in the West Bank. https://t.co/DLVEZWrZ47 pic.twitter.com/at21lRX1sH
— Phil Gordon (@PhilGordon46) 26 July 2024
“Kamala Harris needs to answer questions about her national security adviser’s ties to pro-Iranian groups,” Cotton told DCNF.
A US official told the DCNF that the letter was “baseless and absurd”, adding that “[Gordon] has been a staunch advocate for concrete efforts to oppose the malign activities of Iran and its terrorist proxies and to support Israel and its security, including by this administration.”
With Gordon as his adviser, Harris has been adamant that an immediate ceasefire is needed in the Israel-Hamas war, largely maintaining the Biden administration’s position on the conflict, but appearing to be tougher on this issue than Biden. Of the pro-Palestinian protests that have engulfed the nation since Oct. 7 — several of which have turned violent — Harris has said protesters “show exactly what human emotion should be,” adding that she rejected some of the they said but understood “the feeling behind it”.
Harris has reportedly privately pushed the administration to be more sympathetic on the Palestinian issue, “tougher” on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and “more forceful” on achieving a two-state solution, according to Politico.
“Anyone who values the relationship between the United States and Israel should be concerned about what a Harris administration policy, implemented by people like Philip Gordon, would be,” said Victoria Coates, senior defense director at the Heritage Foundation and former White House national security adviser. to DCNF. .
In regions such as Afghanistan, Harris has supported Biden’s decision to withdraw US forces from the region in 2021, in what was seen by many as a chaotic and abrupt operation. Harris would sit in on policy briefings ahead of the withdrawal and discuss the issue with Biden, according to The Washington Post; she has said she was “the last person in the room” when Biden made the decision to evacuate in early 2021.
After Gordon became Harris’ national security adviser in 2022, he stated that the administration would “not allow Afghanistan to become a safe haven for terrorists.” Although Al Qaeda’s capabilities have been largely diminished, it has begun to return to Afghanistan and operates in numerous locations throughout the country with the permission of the Taliban.
Speaking at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) on Thursday, Harris told a crowd of supporters that she would “always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself,” adding that the ongoing war in Gaza must end given the impact it has had on the region. Harris also said at the convention that she would not “hesitate to take any necessary steps to defend our forces and our interests against Iran and Iran-backed terrorists.”
If Harris wins
It is not immediately clear whether Harris would retain Gordon as his national security adviser if elected president or appoint him to a cabinet position such as secretary of state. But his name has been floated as a possibility for a high-level position in recent weeks by several media outlets since Harris became the presumptive Democratic nominee.
Some progressive national security professionals are already scrambling to get their names on the list for positions in a possible Harris term, according to Politico.
Should Harris keep Gordon by her side, she would likely rely on him for most of her foreign and national security policy since she does not have the same level of experience in those areas, Noronha told DCNF.
“He would be the one trying to bring decisions to the president, trying to provide the intellectual framework and also the bureaucratic framework,” Noronha told DCNF. “I would say he would be the person who is supposed to be the most influential to her thinking and policy.”
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