For much of the quarter century since al-Qaida’s attacks on New York and Washington DC on September 11, 2001, counterterrorism has been the top national security and foreign policy priority for the United States. US leadership has been central to global efforts to confront terrorist threats, but, like so many aspects of US domestic and foreign policy, that has changed under the second Trump administration.

We sat down with Michael Jacobson - senior fellow in The Washington Institute for Near East Policy’s Jeanette and Eli Reinhard Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence. Mike’s professional career has been almost entirely spent working in counterterrorism roles for the US government, including in the US State Department’s Counterterrorism Bureau from 2010-2025, the US Treasury Department’s office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, the 9-11 Commission, and in the FBI.

Under the second Trump administration, the United States has fundamentally transformed how it engages with the world. On counterterrorism, where the United States has traditionally adopted a central leadership role globally for well-over two decades, that is changing too.

Here we talk to Mike Jacobson about the pivot in US policy that has probably received less attention but it’s a policy area with major implications for global security and stability.

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