Senior aide to Trump to leave White House

WASHINGTON, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump's deputy national security adviser, Dina Powell, will step down from her position early next year, the White House said Friday.

"Dina Powell has been a key, trusted advisor in this administration," White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement Friday.

Sanders said Powell "has always planned to serve one year before returning home to New York, where she will continue to support the president's agenda and work on the Middle East."

Powell, who started to serve the administration in March, is expected to be one of several aides to leave the White House at the one-year mark of Trump's presidency.

Powell, 44, has been in Trump's inner circle and a key aide to National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster. She has played a key role in Trump's Middle East agenda, along with the president's senior adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

"Dina has been an invaluable member of President Trump's team," McMaster said in a statement.

Kushner, for his part, stressed Powell's role in the administration's Israeli-Palestinian peace team.

Trump announced on Wednesday that the United States recognizes Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, a move widely criticized by the international community.

Powell, who speaks Arabic and moved to the United States from Egypt at the age of four, was in charge of the office of presidential personnel in the George W. Bush administration.

After leaving the Bush administration, she joined Goldman Sachs in 2007 as a managing director. Enditem