WASHINGTON — Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is the latest unconventional US emissary attempting to strong-arm Ukraine and Russia into sealing a peace deal as President Trump tries to end almost four years of war.
Driscoll, the 39-year-old “best friend” of Vice President JD Vance, wrapped up two days of meetings with a Russian delegation in Abu Dhabi Tuesday after securing Ukraine’s tentative agreement to a revised peace framework following weekend talks in Switzerland.
The Army secretary’s meteoric rise has its roots in the White House tapping Driscoll’s office to boost the Pentagon’s counter-drone capabilities, which languish behind both Russia and Ukraine.
Driscoll — to whom Trump has referred as “the drone guy” — initially went to Ukraine to suss out ways the US can capitalize on Kyiv’s technological development and prowess for the benefit of America’s warfighters.
Then, the Army secretary was handed a more serious task: Present what could become the final peace plan to end Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II.
At a meeting in Kyiv last week, Driscoll handed Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky an early iteration of a peace framework — dubbed the 28-point plan — before gathering with Kyiv officials in Geneva Sunday to hammer out further details alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff and presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner, resulting in a new 19-point document.
In a sign of progress, Ukrainian national security adviser Rustem Umerov said Tuesday that “our delegations reached a common understanding on the core terms of the agreement discussed in Geneva.”
The deal currently proposes that Ukraine give up some land not currently occupied by Russia in exchange for the Kremlin stopping its 33-month-old invasion.
It was unclear how much progress Driscoll had made with the Russian side as of midday Tuesday.
Three administration sources who have worked with Driscoll describe a charming personality that belies a toughness behind closed doors — but his top asset is his bond with Vance, who took his fellow Iraq War veteran under his wing at Yale Law School.
“[Driscoll] is just like Jared and Steve. He’s very close to the Trump family… but he’s also very close to the vice president. So this is a guy that’s possibly part of the future US leadership,” one source told The Post.
“If you and I know it, the Russians know it too,” this person said.
“People are betting on JD being the next president, and there is no question in anyone’s mind that Dan Driscoll will play a significant role in a Vance administration. This is not someone who could have a falling out with the vice president. They are quite literally best friends.”
While speculation has grown that Driscoll could be a possible replacement for current Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, all three sources said that Driscoll does not want the Pentagon’s top job.
“He has no interest in butting heads with Pete,” the first source said. “He understands that the base loves Pete [and] a surefire way to be someone that the base hates is by replacing Pete.”
Driscoll has impressed administration colleagues by expressing skepticism of legacy defense contracting deals in favor of emphasizing emerging technologies, and brings an unconventional set of credentials to the European peace talks after years of unsuccessful efforts by career diplomats.
Trump’s thinking in tapping Driscoll to bring about the possible endgame of the president’s most elusive foreign policy goal can be summarized in four words, a person familiar with Driscoll’s assignment told The Post: “Let’s shake this up.”
“Maybe [the Russians] are going to be more willing to be persuaded by someone from the military,” this insider added.
A second administration source said that Driscoll had been thrown into the mix because “the president wants to get a deal done.”
“Some of the president’s lead negotiators aren’t just people that are smart, knowledgeable and experienced, but they have good personalities,” this person said.
“And I think that the president recognizes that to get deals done, you have to have a little bit of a personality. The president isn’t looking for the academics, the guys that like to think about issues, but instead, the guys that like to resolve issues.”
‘The most adorable person at DOW’
Driscoll, whom Trump has also given a side job as acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), showed his disarming side at a Sept. 15 Oval Office event on the deployment of National Guard troops to fight crime in Memphis.
“That nice, beautiful face — and he’s a total killer. I don’t know how you do it,” Trump gushed.
“Lotion, sir,” Driscoll replied, drawing laughter from fellow guests.
“He’s got a babyface and he’s a killer, which are a unique combination in this world,” the second source said.
Two sources said that Driscoll was respected in the administration for his tough interactions with defense contractors who have for generations enjoyed bipartisan support for lucrative multibillion-dollar deals that bring manufacturing jobs to workers and big paychecks to executives.
“There’s no one that has sat down across from Dan Driscoll, then thought that they could take advantage of him … You recognize very quickly that there’s no bulls— and no messing around, even though some describe him —not myself — but some describe him as the most adorable person at DOW [the Department of War],” the second source said.
“There’s been a number of meetings where these big companies that have been familiar around the department for decades and have squeezed billions, if not trillions, out of the government for decades, don’t get a free pass when they’re sitting in front of Dan,” this person said.
“He has been unequivocal and uncompromising with the military-industrial complex, your big companies that are used to business as usual. They come in and he will laugh them out of the room if they’re trying to to pitch the typical kind of sales pitch, that the administration recognizes is out of date and unwise for the future.”
A third source noted that Driscoll has openly spoken about legacy defense contractors going out of business.
“He has been able to effectively deliver tough messages to powerful people, and there is no more powerful group of people in the United States in the military-industrial complex,” said the third source who has worked with him.
“He graduated from Ranger School … and served a combat tour in Iraq. That’s a sign of somebody with some real mental and physical strength. You don’t get through those schools and experiences just by being a nice guy.”
This source claimed that Driscoll’s delivery of the initial peace plan to Zelensky was accompanied by a stern message.
“He’s told the Ukrainians: ‘Look, this is the reality of the situation,’” this person said. “‘Ukraine is at a disadvantage right now. The United States and NATO have a limited ability to reverse the battlefield disadvantage you have and the current course is not sustainable. And so, there’s going to have to be tough concessions.’”
Zelensky on Friday expressed concern that the latest Trump peace push meant Ukraine “might face a very difficult choice: either losing dignity, or risk losing a key partner,” before his government signaled it could accept refined peace points, the full contents of which are not yet public.
