US vice president's Mideast advisor leaves White House

WASHINGTON

The man who has been serving as Vice President JD Vance's special advisor for the Middle East has left the White House for a private sector consultancy, according to a report published Monday.

Wesam Hassanein is taking on a new role at Continental Strategy LLC, according to the Bloomberg Government news outlet. Continental Strategy is a lobbying firm founded by Carlos Trujillo, an ambassador during President Donald Trump's first term.

The vice president's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Hassanein's reported departure.

Hassanein told Bloomberg that he decided to leave the administration prior to the US and Israel launching a sweeping surprise attack on Iran that began Feb. 28.

“I’m not leaving because I oppose the president’s decision on Iran — I’m 100% supportive of President Trump’s decision to deny Iran nuclear weapons,” he said. “We should have done what President Trump is doing years ago.”

He described working for Vance and the federal government more generally as “one of the greatest honors to serve the American people. I appreciate and am grateful for the vice president’s trust he has placed in me.”

“Continental really, really stood out as family oriented, a family culture, with an excellent client base,” he said of his new office. “They are in total lockstep with the administration, working to advance America First policies.”