Who is Trump’s ‘drone guy’ taking central role in Ukraine peace talks?

When talks to end the Russia-Ukraine war took an unexpected turn last week when information about the peace plan allegedly originated in the United States was leaked, the Trump administration dispatched an unlikely figure to a series of overseas meetings.

The youngest Secretary of the Army in history, 39-year-old Dan Driscoll, is often called President Donald Trump's “drone guy” for his use of new military technologies. Until recently, he was known mainly for discussing budgets, logistics and personnel issues in the military's largest branch.

Driscoll appears to have no long history with Russia and Ukraine or experience in international diplomacy and has never held public office.

So who is this increasingly prominent figure in the administration?

It was Driscoll's relationship with now-Vice President J.D. Vance that brought him into Trump's orbit.

Like his friend Vance, Driscoll attended a state university before joining the U.S. Army and then earning a law degree from the prestigious Yale University. Both men also worked in finance after graduating.

During his military career, Driscoll became an officer in 2007, led a cavalry platoon and was deployed to Iraq for several months in 2009.

He told the story of a meeting with Vance at a law school veterans' student group, during which Vance assured the new students that they would feel like outsiders at first, but that after a few months they would succeed in their studies. Vance soon became Driscoll's friend and mentor.

In the summer of 2024, Driscoll was vacationing with his family in Switzerland when Vance called him to say he was going to be Trump's running mate and asked him to join the campaign.

The next day, Driscoll flew back to the United States, bought a suit at the mall and took an Uber to the Republican National Convention, he told the alumni magazine of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the school where he attended.

Once Trump returned to office, Driscoll was quickly confirmed as Secretary of the Army in a Senate confirmation vote. His sphere of influence expanded after he became a key figure in Trump's deployment of the National Guard to US cities. He subsequently also assumed the role of acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Driscoll has often spoken about the war in Ukraine, pointing to Ukrainian drones as a relatively cheap, mass-produced technology that is good for combat.

But after he was nominated to be Secretary of the Army, he initially did not appear to be involved in negotiations to end the war. Instead, Trump relied on his special envoy Steve Witkoff to work on a ceasefire plan.

When the details of the 28-point plan developed by the US and Russia were leaked last weekUkraine immediately raised concerns on some key points, and its European allies followed suit.

Driscoll then made an unannounced visit to Ukraine along with other senior Pentagon officials, the highest-ranking military group to visit Kyiv since Trump took office in January. The purpose, according to a US Army spokesman, was to meet with Ukrainian officials and discuss efforts to end the war.

Driscoll met with Zelensky, and then, according to Politico, he was honored at a reception at the US ambassador's residence.

In the following days, Driscoll participated in further discussions with Ukrainian officials in Geneva, along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, and helped draft “an updated and refined framework for peace”.

He continued talks with Russian officials in Abu Dhabi, according to the BBC's US partner CBS News.

In nominating Driscoll as his Army secretary, Trump wrote that he “has a powerful combination of experience to serve as a disruptor and an agent of change.”

Some in Washington are wondering whether those qualities and his recent emergence on the world stage mean Driscoll could one day replace Pete Hegseth if Hegseth ever steps down as defense secretary.

Although he has never held public office, Driscoll worked in Congress as an intern for the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, and in 2020 he made an unsuccessful bid for a House seat from North Carolina. The former professor suggested that Driscoll intended to “serve in the military, go to law school, and go into politics.”

There is also the possibility that Driscoll will formally take over the role of Ukraine negotiator when Trump's special envoy to the country, Kate Kellogg, leaves in January.

Or he could remain the head of hundreds of thousands of troops in the US military. Driscoll has previously emphasized that his father and grandfather served in the Army before him, and he often talks about his vision for transforming the Army.

A few days before his trip to Ukraine, Driscoll told The Conversation podcast how he envisioned a near future where “every infantryman… will carry a drone into battle,” and soldiers will rely on artificial intelligence because the human brain cannot “keep up” with the pace of combat.

“Our window for change is now,” he said in a speech in October. “And we will win with silicon and software, not with the blood and bodies of our soldiers.”