Christopher Landau, the deputy secretary of state, posted and then quickly deleted a statement on Wednesday evening attacking another high-level U.S. diplomat and criticizing the NATO military alliance as “a solution in search of a problem.”
Matt Whitaker, whom President Trump appointed as his ambassador to NATO, had earned a reputation for personal loyalty and a willingness to defend Mr. Trump while working in the Justice Department during his first administration.
But Mr. Whitaker briefly found himself a public target of another Trump administration official’s ire after publishing a routine social media post highlighting his meetings with ambassadors from Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
“What happens in the Indo-Pacific matters for transatlantic security,” Mr. Whitaker wrote on Tuesday morning on his official X account. “That’s why NATO works with partners globally.”
More than a day later, Mr. Landau, Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s right-hand aide, used his own official account to post a reply to Mr. Whitaker with an attack.
“He obviously didn’t get the memo,” Mr. Landau said of Mr. Whitaker, “of our Deputies Committee meeting on this very issue. NATO is still a solution in search of a problem.”
It is unclear if Mr. Landau had unintentionally made the comment publicly, or if he had meant to insult a fellow diplomat in the internet’s public square before quickly regretting it. Minutes earlier, Mr. Landau had posted photos from a recent trip to Mexico, where he served as the U.S. ambassador during the first Trump administration from 2019 to 2021.
The State Department did not respond to requests for comment about the post.
Chris Cameron is a Times reporter covering Washington, focusing on breaking news and the Trump administration.
Peter Baker is the chief White House correspondent for The Times. He is covering his sixth presidency and sometimes writes analytical pieces that place presidents and their administrations in a larger context and historical framework.
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