Influential MAGA figure Michael Anton to leave State Department

Michael Anton, a senior State Department official and fixture of the MAGA movement, is leaving the department in the fall. 

“The Secretary is grateful for Michael’s willingness to be away from his family to serve his country,” a State Department spokesperson told The Hill on Wednesday. “Any insinuation of friction between Anton and other key members of the administration is simply untrue.” 

Anton, who serves as the State Department’s policy planning director, is the lead author of the administration’s forthcoming national security strategy, a lengthy report that typically outlines the administration’s goals for advancing the country’s interests, ensuring security as well as addressing the nation’s competition and challenges. 

Anton, who worked in the National Security Council during Trump’s first term, was tapped by Secretary of State Marco Rubio to head the technical talks with Iran in late April as the U.S. was negotiating with Iran over the country’s nuclear program. 

Anton participated in the third round of Iran nuclear talks, travelling to Muscat, Oman, with Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff. The discussions fell apart in June after Israel attacked Iran’s nuclear facilities. Days later, the U.S. military struck Tehran’s three nuclear sites, including Fordow.

The State Department’s policy planning director also went to Riyadh in March, alongside Rubio, Witkoff and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz, for the first round of discussions with Russian officials over potentially ending the war in Ukraine. 

“In addition to his indispensable work on Ukraine and Iran, he led efforts to draft a groundbreaking National Security Strategy [NSS] that will operationalize the President’s priorities,” the State Department spokesperson said. “Anton continues work on the NSS, which is expected to be finalized later this fall.” 

Anton, who has also worked as a fellow at the conservative Claremont Institute, garnered attention after authoring “The Flight 93 Election,” an essay that pushed conservatives to support Trump during the 2016 White House race. 

“Michael has been a critical part of this team going back to the transition. I’m grateful for his service and his ongoing leadership in drafting a groundbreaking National Security Strategy that will operationalize America First foreign policy for years to come,” Rubio said in a statement Wednesday.

Anton’s expected departure was first reported by Politico.