Trump picks Navy veteran as top counterterrorism official

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump is nominating a Navy special operations veteran to be the nation’s top counterterrorism official.

Trump announced Friday that he’s picked Joseph Maguire to lead the National Counterterrorism Center.

Since 2013, Maguire has been president and chief executive officer of the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. His last government assignment was deputy director for strategic operational planning at the counterterrorism centre where he was a member of the National Security Council’s counterterrorism security group.

Maguire, who is from New York City, retired from the Navy in 2010 as a vice-admiral after 36 years in uniform. He has commanded every level of the Naval Special Warfare Command, the Navy component of the U.S. Special Operations Command.

Russell Travers is currently the acting director of the centre.