The Pentagon announced yesterday the appointment of new members of the Defense Policy Board, about half of whom have ties to Silicon Valley and the military. Ambassador Robert Lighthizer, who previously served as U.S. Trade Representative from 2017-2021, will serve as its Chair, and former Senator Norm Coleman will serve as its Vice Chair. The rest of the members are as follows: Marc L. Andreessen, Michael N. Anton, Rachel A. Bovard, Tom P. Feddo, Mike J. Garcia, Kenneth P. Jones. Blake G. Masters, Daniel P. McCarthy, Michael P. Pillsbury, Adm. (Ret) Chas A. Richard, Francis P. Sempa, Christopher A. Williams, and Theo J. Wold.
The choice of Lighthizer as chairman is a bit mysterious as most of his professional career, including his time in government, has been devoted to trade policy. He spent more than 30 years at the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP litigating international trade disputes before joining the first Trump Administration in 2017, and is known as a “skeptic” of trade with China. He also has been credited with being the architect of Trump’s 2025 tariff policy, but he seems to have no record of ever being involved with military policy.
Vice chairman Coleman is a lobbyist for the government of Saudi Arabia. Coleman played a central role in rehabilitating Saudi Arabia after the assassination of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen, reported Responsible Statecraft. Coleman also helped shepherd Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth through confirmation through the Senate Armed Services Committee in early 2025.
Furthermore, at least 8 of the 15 members of the board have ties to military industry. Theo Wold is a senior counselor at Palantir. In the first week of the war on Iran, the U.S. military used Palantir’s Maven system to help it identify and strike more than 3,000 targets.