Homeland security aide quits 1 day after Bolton takes helm
WASHINGTON — White House homeland security adviser Tom Bossert is leaving the Trump administration, another departure during what has been a chaotic few months of personnel changes.
Bossert, a favorite of chief of staff John Kelly, resigned one day after national security adviser John Bolton began the job. Bossert was believed to be on shaky footing in the Bolton era and left two days after Michael Anton, the National Security Council spokesman, also quit.
Bossert’s resignation was requested by Bolton, according to two people familiar with the situation who requested anonymity.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders declined to comment on whether Bossert was pushed out.
“I’m not going to get into specific details about the ongoings of personnel. But I can tell you that he resigned,” she said Tuesday. “The president feels he’s done great job and wishes him the best as he moves forward.”
Bossert joins a growing list of officials who have left the administration in recent months as the high turnover rate continues under President Donald Trump. This year, the president has lost a secretary of state, national security adviser, veterans affairs secretary, CIA director, chief economic adviser, staff secretary, communications director and members of his legal team.
Bossert and former national security adviser H.R. McMaster feuded bitterly throughout their tenure in the White House in meetings that on occasion devolved into screaming, according to people familiar with their relationship who requested anonymity to discuss the situation. McMaster and others in the White House were frustrated that Bossert was slow to move forward with a strategy to both defend the United States and punish Russia for its efforts to undermine the U.S. elections.
“He’s a foot dragger on everything,” said a former senior U.S. official who worked with Bossert in the White House. “But that’s also how he hung on for a while in this crazy White House.”
Bossert has publicly taken issue with assertions that the Trump administration has not imposed sufficient costs on Russia.
He also discounted any potential impact of Russian manipulation of social media in the 2016 election.
“I frankly have a whole lot more confidence that no voter in this country was influenced by those ads,” he said. Still, “I’m not forgiving the meddling in the slightest; it’s galling.”
Beyond Russia, there was widespread frustration in the White House that Bossert’s office had failed to produce formal strategies to deal with counterterrorism and cyberactivities. Bossert also suffered from a confusing chain of command inside the White House. He insisted that he reported directly to the president and not to the national security adviser, which became a source of frustration for McMaster. His forced resignation suggests that Bolton may be intent on ensuring that Bossert’s replacement on cyber and counterterror strategy reports to him.