Trump names new security adviser
Army general known to be a military strategist and creative thinker to replace Michael Flynn.
PALM BEACH: President Donald Trump has tapped Army Lt-Gen H.R. McMaster, a prominent military strategist known as a creative thinker, as his new national security adviser, replacing the ousted Michael Flynn.
Trump announced the pick on Monday at his Palm Beach, Florida, club and said McMaster is “a man of tremendous talent and tremendous experience”.
Sitting next to Trump for the announcement, McMaster said he was honoured to take on the role and added that he looks forward to “doing everything that I can to advance and protect the interests of the American people”.
The president’s choice further elevates the influence of military officers in the new administration.
Trump, who has no military or foreign policy experience, has shown a strong preference for putting generals in top roles.
In this case, he tapped an active-duty officer for a post that’s sometimes used as a counterweight to the Pentagon.
McMaster, who wore his uniform for the announcement, joins Defence Secretary Jim Mattis and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, both retired generals, in Trump’s inner circle of national security advisers.
The White House said on Monday McMaster plans to remain on active military duty.
He will take on the challenge of leading a National Security Council that has not adjusted smoothly to Trump’s leadership.
The president suggested he does not trust holdovers from the Obama administration and complained about leaks to reporters. His decision to put his top political adviser on the senior committee of the National Security Council drew sharp criticism.
On Friday, the head of the council’s Western Hemisphere division was fired after he criticised Trump’s policies and his inner circle of advisers.
Trump said on Monday that retired Army Lt-Gen Keith Kellogg, who had been his acting adviser, will now serve as the National Security Council chief of staff.
He also said he would be asking John Bolton, a former US ambassador to the United Nations, to work with them in a “somewhat different capacity”.
McMaster is viewed as soldier-scholar and creative thinker.
He has a doctoral degree in history from the University of North Carolina and has been heavily involved in the Army’s efforts to shape its future force and its way of preparing for war.
He is the director of the Army Capabilities Integration Center, a sort of military think tank, at Fort Eustis, Virginia.
Outside of the Army, he may be best known for his 1997 book, Dereliction of Duty, a searing indictment of the US government’s mishandling of the Vietnam War and an analysis of what he called the “lies that led to Vietnam”.
The book earned him a reputation for being willing to speak truth to power.
McMaster commanded troops in both American wars in Iraq – in 1991, when he fought in a storied tank battle known as the Battle for 73 Easting, and again in 2005-2006 in one of the most violent periods of the insurgency that developed after the US-led invasion in 2003.
He is credited with using innovative approaches to countering the insurgency in the northern Iraqi city of Tal Afar when he commanded the 3rd Armoured Cavalry Regiment. He later served as a special adviser to the top U.S. commander in Iraq.
McMaster was Trump’s second choice to replace Flynn, who has been under FBI investigation for his contacts with Russian officials.
Trump dismissed Flynn last week after revelations that the adviser had misled Vice-President Mike Pence about the nature of his discussion with Russia’s ambassador to the United States during the presidential transition.
Trump said in a news conference Thursday that he was disappointed by how Flynn had treated Pence, but did not believe Flynn had done anything wrong by having the conversations.
Trump’s first choice to replace Flynn, retired Vice-Admiral Robert Harward, turned down the offer.
Trump announced his choice sitting between McMaster and Kellogg in a luxurious living room at the resort property. The president told reporters that Pence had been involved in the process, but he did not elaborate.
Trump brought four candidates for the position to Mar-a-Lago over the weekend for in-person interviews, McMaster among them. McMaster called the appointment a “privilege”.