Questions for Robert Blair, Trump’s Point Man on 5G

A Q&A with Robert Blair, senior advisor to the White House Chief of Staff. His new challenge: help further Trump’s global aims on 5G, including an ongoing campaign to prevent America’s allies from relying on Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei. “One of the messages that I want to bring to people is: Take a breath,” Blair says. “The Chinese are not winning this race.”

Q: It sounds like a big part of your role is interagency coordination. Blair: [White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow] is very much the focal point within the administration for 5G, all 5G. So Larry Kudlow is the pinnacle for all that. My role is more the international face, to go out and talk to other countries, to be a focal point for businesses, so that if they’re interested in where the president is on something internationally, they know who to turn to. I’m in the process of learning as much as I can about what’s already been done over the last three years within the government. Within the White House itself, the National Economic Council has been working closely with [Federal Communications Commission Chairman] Ajit Pai and the rest of the folks over there at the FCC about an overall spectrum strategy.