President Donald Trump's senior national security aide for the Middle East and North Africa Victoria Coates will leave her post for a position at the Energy Department, National Security Council spokesperson Robert O'Brien said in a statement on Thursday.
"Coates will be a big asset to Energy Secretary [Dan] Brouillette as he executes the President's energy security policy priorities. She has been a trusted and valued member of the NSC's Middle East Directorate and we will miss her," O'Brien said.
Coates' departure comes amid recent rumors that she was the author of an anonymous book and 2018 opinion article that criticized the Trump administration's agenda. The unsigned op-ed appeared in the New York Times in September 2018. The book, titled "A Warning" and written as a follow-up by the same anonymous author, was published in November 2019.
The White House has reportedly rejected rumors that Coates is the anonymous author and has said her transfer has been under consideration for several weeks.