White House Energy Adviser Departs as Trump Reorders US Agenda

A key energy policy official has departed just two months into President Donald Trump’s second term, even as the White House tries to recruit more experts on the sector. 

Oliver McPherson-Smith, who joined the administration as a special assistant to the president for economic policy in January, has left after helping establish the president’s National Energy Dominance Council.

McPherson-Smith is returning to Texas and plans on growing his family, according to a White House official.

His absence thins the ranks of White House advisers specializing in energy even as Trump weighs sweeping policy shifts and widespread tariffs that could alter demand for fuel as well as the cost to produce it. 

At the same time, however, Blake Deeley, who was an adviser at the Interior Department during Trump’s first term, joined the White House earlier this month after years working on federal affairs at the American Clean Power Association. Deeley didn’t respond to a request for comment. 

McPherson-Smith, who has degrees from the University of Oxford, Harvard University and the University of Cambridge, was previously director for the Center for Energy and Environment at the Trump-aligned America First Policy Institute. He did not comment on his departure.

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Trump, in his first term, generally could count on at least two dedicated energy-focused advisers across the National Security Council or the National Economic Council.

In the second term, staff on the NSC have picked up some work on energy in the meantime, said people familiar with the matter who were granted anonymity to discuss personnel. 

In some cases, potential challenges navigating recusals have complicated staffing decisions, the people said. Deliberations over the staffing, organization and authority of the National Energy Dominance Council that Trump created on Feb. 14 were also a factor, they said. 

The president already has a cadre of unofficial and official advisers on energy, including Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who was the chief executive officer of the oil field services company Liberty Energy Inc., and Harold Hamm, a longtime Trump backer who is chairman and co-founder of Continental Resources Inc. But their expertise is concentrated more in oil production, and not the refining of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.

Trump’s energy policy is also being quarterbacked by the energy dominance council, led by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum with Wright as its vice-chair. 

With assistance from Ruth Liao.

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