NEW YORK, NY – Republican presidential frontrunner Donald J. Trump on Thursday announced Senator Jeff Sessions, who has advised the GOP frontrunner on issues such as trade and immigration and endorsed Mr. Trump on Sunday in Alabama, will serve as Chairman of Mr. Trump’s National Security Advisory Committee. Senator Sessions has been on the Armed Services Committee for almost 20 years and is Chairman of the Strategic Forces Subcommittee.

“It is an honor to have Jeff as a member of the team,” said Trump. “I have such great respect for him and I look forward to working with him on the issues most important to Americans.”

Sessions, a leading Republican voice on homeland and national security issues, said he looks forward to helping Trump craft a national security policy that serves the national interest.

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I am grateful for the opportunity to recommend and facilitate discussions among exceptional and experienced American military and diplomatic leaders to share insight and advice with Donald Trump, regardless of their political views. Mr. Trump and the American people know our country needs a clear-eyed foreign policy rooted in the national interest. We need to understand the limits of our ability to intervene successfully in other nations. It is time for a healthy dose of foreign policy realism. In the Middle East, this means forming partnerships based on shared interests, not merely overthrowing regimes in the dangerous attempt to plant democracies. We must also combat the refugee crisis by creating regional safe zones, rather than depopulating the region by migration. The only path to long-term stability and resolution of this humanitarian crisis for the United States and our European allies is to work towards the safe return of migrants to their home countries, as Mr. Trump has noted. This strategy will also protect our own national security.

A national-interest foreign policy, combined with a military second to none, stands in contrast to interventionist ideas that could enmesh us further in the region’s chaos. After over a decade of war and conflict, this country has a host of smart, experienced, and proven leaders. That wisdom must be sought. These meetings will be the beginning of a process that Mr. Trump has called for and which he believes must result in a clear and realistic bipartisan global strategy that will guide our nation for years to come.

This appointment will likely fuel speculation that Sessions would play a prominent role in a Trump administration.

Asked on Yellowhammer Radio this week if Mr. Trump had suggested he would tap him for a top job, Sessions said they have not discussed it.

“I’m glad you asked because they have not hinted and I have not hinted that I want (a Cabinet post),” he said. “And I haven’t been offered by anybody connected to (the Trump campaign).”

Mr. Trump said in a release that he will continue to announce members of his National Security Advisory Committee and other advisors on key issues over the next few weeks.

.@realDonaldTrump taps @SenatorSessions to lead National Security Advisory Committee https://t.co/ZF7RSKKhwg pic.twitter.com/pfyJr4In13

— Yellowhammer (@yhn) March 4, 2016