Dan Driscoll: Trump’s ‘drone guy’, central to the US plan to end Russia-Ukraine war

After almost 2,000 days of war, there might be hope that the Russia-Ukraine war may be drawing to an end. This comes as Kyiv has reportedly agreed to a peace deal brokered by the Donald Trump administration, saying a “common understanding” has been reached with the US on the peace plan.

Confirming the same, a US official told ABC News, “The Ukrainians have agreed to the peace deal. “There are some minor details to be sorted out but they have agreed to a peace deal.”

The hopes of a deal to put an end to the war come after Trump presented a 28-point peace plan, which many believed was Washington’s capitulation to Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin. Since the plan was presented, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been negotiating with the US for a better proposal — and has since reportedly agreed to a revised 19-point peace plan in which Kyiv has agreed not to increase the size of its military.

More from Explainers

Ukraine 'reaches understanding' with US on peace plan as Trump announces envoy's talks with Putin US Army Secretary Driscoll holds talks with Russia in Abu Dhabi in new push for Ukraine peace deal

Through all of these negotiations and talks, there’s been one constant man representing Washington and that’s US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll. In fact, the 39-year-old has become the central figure in the administration’s push to pull Moscow and Kyiv toward a ceasefire.

So, who is he? And how did he get this assignment?

Dan Driscoll — a US soldier and close ally of JD Vance

Born in Boone, North Carolina, Driscoll comes from a family of military service. His grandfather served in the US army in World War II as a decoder and his father was an infantryman in Vietnam. Following in their footsteps, he was commissioned in the army in 2007 and saw active service in Iraq in 2009 with the 10th Mountain Division, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Speaking of his service years, he once said, “I do not want to be the kind of person [when] I’m 40, 50, 60 years old and they ask the veterans to stand at an event, and I stay seated.”

Editor’s Picks

1

Explained: The big sticking points in the US peace plan to end Russia-Ukraine war 2

Meet Kirill Dmitriev, the controversial Kremlin man behind the Ukraine peace push

After leaving active duty, Driscoll went to Yale law school and that’s where he met and befriend now US Vice President JD Vance. The 39-year-old in recounted his first meeting with Vance — it was through a veterans’ student group at Yale. Vance then reassured new students that they would at first feel as if they did not belong, but would excel at classes after a few months.

After Yale, Driscoll moved into investment banking and at one point was chief operating officer of a $200 million venture capital fund. He married his high school sweetheart and they have two children.

Driscoll’s rise in the US army

It is reported that in the summer of 2024 when Driscoll was on holiday in Switzerland, he received a call from Vance, telling him he was going to be Trump’s running mate and asked him to join the campaign.

The next day, Driscoll flew back to the US, bought a suit at an outlet mall, and took an Uber to the Republican National Convention, he told the alumni magazine for the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill - the institution where he was an undergraduate.

And, as they say, the rest is history. Once Trump secured his presidential win, Driscoll was appointed as army secretary. One person close to the White House, speaking on Driscoll’s appointment said to Politico, “Dan’s relationship with JD certainly helped him get the job, but all of his success has been on the merits. He’s just really f****ng good at the job.”

As army secretary, Driscoll’s job has been mostly bureaucratic. He manages the service’s annual budget and its workforce of over one million active-duty, National Guard and reserve soldiers, as well as more than 330,000 civilian employees.

But his work has caught the attention of US President Donald Trump, who calls him his “drone guy,” owing to his push to modernise America’s forces with military tech and move away from heavy, outdated defence systems.

In fact, Driscoll, highlighting the importance of drones in the military, said in a speech in October, “Our window to change is right now. We will win with silicon and software, not our soldiers’ blood and bodies.”

According to several reports, Driscoll has been seen as someone who could potentially take over the Department of War, if Trump chose to turn on his current Defence Secretary, Pete Hegseth. As a former White House official was quoted by The Telegraph, “Dan Driscoll is the opposite of Pete Hegseth – he’s serious, shrewd and has the confidence of the White House. Dan’s a workhorse, not a showhorse, and puts a lot of lead on target for the president in everything he does.”

And it’s for all these reasons and much more that perhaps got him at the centre of US diplomacy.

Driscoll becomes Trump’s man in Russia-Ukraine negotiations

At first, Driscoll was not involved in negotiations to end the Russia-Ukraine war. That responsibility was entrusted to Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff.

But when details of a 28-point peace plan for the war leaked, with Ukraine expressing concern, it was Driscoll who made an unannounced visit to Kyiv. It is believed that he sat down with Zelenskyy and hammered out the issues Kyiv had with the plan. As CNN notes, the Ukrainians know and trust US army officials, who have trained and equipped their forces for more than a decade.

Following his visit to Ukraine, Driscoll participated in more talks in Geneva along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and helped draw up an “updated peace framework”.

Armed with the new peace proposal, Driscoll has held talks with Russian officials in Abu Dhabi, with reports stating that so trusted is Driscoll in the White House, that he is effectively on his own with the Russians. There is no pack of diplomats and military officials to back him up, reported The Times.

A bright future awaits Driscoll

Many within the White House see Driscoll as a favourite to replace Hegseth as Pentagon chief should the position become available.

Others also speculate that with General Keith Kellogg expected to step down as US envoy to Ukraine, Driscoll could be stepping into those shoes. Or he could stay as the head of hundreds of thousands of troops in the US army.

But one thing is certain: Driscoll is now a power player inside Washington. And as one person told the New York Post, “People are betting on JD being the next president, and there is no question that Dan Driscoll will play a significant role in a Vance administration.”

With inputs from agencies