During the first year of the Trump administration, Mr. Costa was appointed as the Special Assistant to the President & Senior Director for Counterterrorism at the White House. Costa’s 35-year government career included 25-years in counterintelligence, human intelligence and with special operations forces (SOF) in the United States Army, in Central America, Europe, and throughout the Middle East. He ran a wide range of intelligence and sensitive operations in Panama, Bosnia, the first and second Iraq wars, and Afghanistan. Colonel Costa earned two Bronze stars for sensitive human intelligence work in Afghanistan. Assigned to the Naval Special Warfare Development Group with Navy SEALs, he served as the first civilian squadron Deputy Director. In 2013, Costa was inducted into the United States Special Operation’s Commando Hall of Honor for lifetime service to US Special Operations. Costa has been the executive director of the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC, since 2018.