Jeffrey D. "J.D." Gordon is an American communications and foreign policy adviser, who served as a Pentagon spokesman during the George W. Bush Administration and later a national security adviser to Donald Trump. Gordon is a retired United States Navy officer who was a senior adviser to numerous prominent Republican political figures. Gordon has also been a television commentator and columnist with various media outlets including One America News Network, Fox News, Sky News, The Daily Caller, USA Today, The Hill, The Washington Times and others. Gordon founded Protect America Today, a national security–themed Super PAC in February 2012. Gordon served a 20-year military career, first in amphibious warfare, and then as a spokesman for the Navy and Department of Defense. He managed communications and press relations in a wide variety of locations including posts in Europe, Latin America and Asia. His final assignment was at the Pentagon, serving under Secretaries Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates from 2005 to 2009. In March 2016, he joined the Trump campaign as the Director of National Security, managing the National Security Advisory Committee under its chairman, Senator Jeff Sessions (R.-Ala.) who became the Attorney General following Trump's election victory. State Department documents show Gordon was formally recommended for the position of Under Secretary, Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. Early life and education Gordon was born in New York City, raised at the Jersey Shore and graduated from Wall High School, located in Wall Township, New Jersey. Gordon received his undergraduate and graduate education from Penn State University and Norwich University. He completed two senior executive certificate programs at Harvard University Law School's Program on Negotiation. Naval career After graduating college, Gordon entered the Navy, where he was commissioned as an officer through the Navy ROTC program. He was initially assigned to the Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek in Virginia. He had additional professional training at the Air Command and Staff College. Beginning in the early 1990s, Gordon served as a Navy spokesman in various assignments and geographical locations, to include the Pacific Fleet Headquarters in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; Naval Forces Southern Command in Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico; Naval Support Activity, Naples, Italy; Amphibious Force Seventh Fleet based in Okinawa, Japan; and Atlantic Fleet headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia. In 1994, Gordon served at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base as the spokesman for the Haitian and Cuban refugee crises. Later that year, he deployed to Haiti