Trump ousts security chief on same day lawyer resigns
DONALD TRUMP has ousted HR Mcmaster as his national security adviser and will appoint hardliner John Bolton in his place, it emerged yesterday.
The US president announced the news in a tweet, with the change set to take place on April 9. The move comes despite repeated rebuttals from the White House over whether Mr Mcmaster would be removed from office.
It also continues a tumultuous period that has seen a string of major staff departures from the White House and the cabinet. Mr Mcmaster, who had never met Mr Trump before being interviewed for the role, clashed with the president over the Iran nuclear deal and Afghanistan policy.
Mr Bolton, who served as George W Bush’s UN ambassador, is known for his hawkish foreign policy views that are more in line with Mr Trump’s stances. Last month he wrote an article headlined “The Legal Case for Striking North Korea First”. He reportedly held talks with Mr Trump yesterday.
Mr Trump tweeted: “I am very thankful for the service of General H.R. Mcmaster who has done an outstanding job & will always remain my friend.”
Mr Mcmaster is expected to retire rather than be fired, with reports that the pair had been discussing his departure for weeks. In the last month Rex Tillerson, the secretary of state, Gary Cohn, Mr Trump’s top economics adviser, and Hope Hicks, his communications director, have all left the administration.
The changes have raised claims that Mr Trump is getting rid of “no men” and putting people in line with his policy preferences in place instead. It was the second staff change to emerge yesterday after John Dowd, Mr Trump’s lawyer, quit amid reports he feared the president was no longer following his advice.
The New York Times reported that Mr Trump wants his new top foreign policy advisers in place before his face-toface meeting with Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader. Mr Bolton’s appointment, taken together with Mr Tillerson’s replacement with Trump ally Mike Pompeo, the CIA head, hints at a change in foreign policy approach.
Mr Trump has called for the Iran nuclear deal to be torn up – something over which Mr Mcmaster and Mr Tillerson urged caution behind the scenes.
Mr Bolton has been a critic of the deal, and his appointment marks a return to front-line politics for the 69-year-old, who was Mr Bush’s representative at the UN from 2005 to 2006.
The news broke on the same day as Mr Dowd’s resignation from Mr Trump’s legal team amid reports the pair clashed on how to handle Robert Mueller, the man leading the Russian investigation. Mr Dowd was said to have advised against Mr Trump agreeing to be interviewed, but the president was increasingly bullish about doing so in order to bring the long investigation to a head.