On Feb. 10, the Rockefeller Center for Public Policy hosted KT McFarland — who served as deputy national security advisor during President Donald Trump’s first term in office — to speak about the future of U.S. national security. McFarland discussed the current Trump administration’s goals of becoming energy independent, improving border security and implementing institutional changes to the military.
The event was part of the Brooks Family Lecture Series, which was created by Baxter Brooks ’47 in 1990 to “foster a balanced discussion on campus of national and international issues,” according to the Rockefeller Center’s website. The panel was moderated by Joyce Giuffra ’91, who served in the Office of Media Relations under former President George H.W. Bush and as deputy press secretary for former U.S. Senate majority leader Bob Dole from 1994 to 1996. Approximately 150 people attended the event in Filene Auditorium, with another 200 tuning in on YouTube, according to Dartmouth News.
McFarland got her start in politics as a national security staffer, during the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan. She then worked as an aide to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and former Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger. In 2017, she joined Trump’s first administration as deputy national security advisor and was one of his most senior staff members.
McFarland opened the event by asserting that the current Trump administration’s two main priorities will be energy and “American trade.” The United States “never could [get oil] efficiently” in the past but began to harvest oil and natural gas “in a competitive way” during Trump’s first term, she explained. The United States has been producing “more crude oil than any nation at any time” for the past six years, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. This shift has in turn made American energy less reliant onMiddle Eastern sources, according to McFarland.
“By 2016, [the United States] could [get oil and gas] in a competitive way — so what that meant is the United States could suddenly be energy independent,” McFarland said. “We didn’t have to be sucked into the Middle East wars because we had our own energy.”
McFarland then explained how America’s energy independence could assist Trump’s economic policy plans. The Trump administration could use the threat of tariffs as “leverage” to fulfill Trump’s “America first” agenda, she added.
“The threat of tariffs to a number of countries has meant that they’ve had to come back to the negotiating table with us,” McFarland said. “I think he will continue to use that economic leverage.”
Giuffra then shifted the conversation to foreign policy. McFarland expressed optimism about Trump’s plans, asserting that the new administration will “push [Russia and Ukraine] to the negotiating table.” She added that “[Trump] means business about sealing the Mexican border.”
Pivoting the conversation, Giuffra asked McFarland about her thoughts on newly-confirmed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and his planned “shakeup of the Pentagon.” According to the Department of Defense website, Hegseth plans to work with the DOD in “restoring warrior ethos” and “trust in the military.” McFarland — who said she has known Hegseth for 20 years — called him a “very good choice for this position,” citing his experience having to “remake himself” when transitioning from deployment to civilian life as evidence that he will be a “symbol to the men and women of the armed forces.”
In outlining her concerns with the current structure of the armed services, McFarland pointed to the high suicide rate among veterans as an issue of significant concern, voicing support for the Trump administration’s plans to “rebuild” the military. According to a 2024 report by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, there were an average of 17.6 veteran suicides per day in 2022, and in that year suicide was the second-leading cause of death for veterans under 45 years old.
“We’ve broken our military, and we’ve broken the men and women that had to do back to back deployments and forever wars that we couldn’t win,” McFarland said.
Giuffra concluded the panel by asking McFarland about her experience serving in multiple presidential administrations as “often the only woman on the team.” In response, McFarland recalled that women “didn’t have the opportunities that men had” when she attended college. Instead, many women were forced to “live with frustration.” She expressed excitement at the “opportunities” now available to young women.
“I’m very excited when I see President Trump appoint these women,” McFarland said. “… For me, the great achievement is that you guys [women] don’t have to worry about getting coffee, because they’re asking you for your advice.”
During an audience Q&A following the discussion, a student asked McFarland about her stance on renewable energy and “the geopolitical role of clean energy.” McFarland said she is a “big believer in renewables” but believes that clean energy is “not there yet,” citing problems with the technology and infrastructure. While envisioning “golden years” in the future that rely upon renewable energy, McFarland said she ultimately believes that American natural gas is a “cleaner, better, safer” option until that future arrives.
In an interview after the event, attendee Brandon Lee ’28 said the event — particularly the discussion about the future of U.S. energy — was “great.” He said he attends many “government and history” events like these because, as an engineering student, they provide an additional angle that he does not “get to see in class.”
“I think there’s a lot of moral conversations about renewable energy versus the security of fossil fuels … and I think that balance and that discussion is really important,” Lee said.
Government professor William Wohlforth, who also attended the event, said it was “good to bring people [to campus] who have views that would be considered minority views about the Trump administration.” However, Wohlforth — who conducts research on international relations, focusing on international security and foreign policy —added that he “wasn’t persuaded” by McFarland’s thoughts on Trump’s foreign policy.
In response to Trump’s plans to purchase Greenland and the Panama Canal, Wohlforth said he has “never heard an argument for why ownership of these assets was the answer to whatever problems the Trump administration has identified.”
Attendee Emma Brulotte ’28 shared Wohlforth’s skepticism, writing in an emailed statement to The Dartmouth that McFarland’s responses “constantly seemed to tell only a fraction of the big picture.” She explained that while “McFarland expects other countries to respect” America’s right to take actions like “negotiating with Russia to end the war in Ukraine,” that deference may not actually be given.
“I fail to see how McFarland’s [foreign policy] suggestions will become realities without significantly altering the longstanding relationships America has with our allies,” Brulotte wrote.
Emma Brulotte ’28 is a former news writer for The Dartmouth. She was not involved in the writing or production of this article.
