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How Trump Loosened the Rules for Hunting Terrorists
Mohammad Sharifullah, alleged co-conspirator in the murder of American soldiers at Abbey Gate in Afghanistan. (@FBIDirectorKash/X).
‘We undid four years of insanity,’ counterterrorism director Sebastian Gorka tells The Free Press.
By Eli Lake
03.09.25 — U.S. Politics
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When Dr. Sebastian Gorka started his job as the senior director for counterterrorism at the White House’s National Security Council, one of the first things he did was order new lanyards for his team with eight letters and an ampersand: WWFY & WWKY. These cryptic abbreviations were drawn from a quote from Gorka’s boss, President Donald Trump: “We will find you, and we will kill you.”

Gorka has fashioned that directive into a new policy that streamlines the process for the CIA and U.S. military to find, fix, and finish terrorists all over the Islamic world. The old protocols held that the president or national security adviser had to sign off on every strike. Now the authority to approve these air strikes and drone strikes sits lower down the chain of command.

“We undid four years of the insanity of the 8,000-mile UAV joystick,” Gorka told The Free Press.

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Eli Lake
Eli Lake is the host of Breaking History, a new history podcast from The Free Press. A veteran journalist with expertise in foreign affairs and national security, Eli has reported for Bloomberg, The Daily Beast, and Newsweek. With Breaking History, he brings his sharp analysis and storytelling skills to uncover the connections between today’s events and pivotal moments in the past.
Tags:
Donald Trump
Counterterrorism
Foreign Policy
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