Trump names 5 finalists to replace Bolton

Next national security adviser will be his fourth.

ATHERTON, CALIF. — President Donald Trump on Tuesday named five candidates he was considering for national security adviser as he seeks to replace John R. Bolton at the same time he is juggling multiple international conflicts with a hollowed out staff.

Speaking with reporters aboard Air Force One as he headed to California for fundraisers, the president identified five current or former members of his administration, including a couple of longtime generals and a hostage negotiator whom he has grown fond of.

The candidates he cited included Robert C. O’Brien, the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs who has brokered the release of high-profile detainees around the world, and Maj. Gen. Ricky L. Waddell, the principal military adviser to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and a former deputy national security adviser to Trump.

The president also listed Lisa E. Gordon-Hagerty, the undersecretary of energy for nuclear security; Fred Fleitz, a former chief of staff to Bolton at the National Security Council; and Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, a retired officer who has advised Trump since the 2016 campaign and now serves as the national security adviser to Vice President Mike Pence.

In naming the five, Trump seemed to be ruling out several others who had been considered or proposed to him, including two top aides to Pompeo — Stephen E. Biegun, the special envoy for North Korea, and Brian H. Hook, the special envoy for Iran. Another who had been mentioned but was not included on the president’s list was Richard Grenell, the ambassador to Germany and a conservative firebrand.

But with Trump, a list of finalists is sometimes only a starting point, and he has been known to consider other candidates as names are floated to him or he happens to spot potential advisers on television. Some on the list he provided on Tuesday may be on there only to stroke egos or throw off those trying to divine his thinking.

Whoever Trump eventually picks would be his fourth national security adviser in less than three years in office, more than any other president has had in a first term. He fired his first, Michael T. Flynn, a retired lieutenant general, after only 24 days for misleading Pence and others about his interactions with Russia’s ambassador. He pushed out his second, Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, after the relationship soured.

Bolton left last week amid deep disagreements on how to handle issues like Iran, North Korea, Russia and Afghanistan. The two could not even agree on the circumstances of his departure. Trump announced that he had fired him, but Bolton insisted he offered his resignation without being asked.

A slew of other national security aides have left with Bolton or are expected to in the coming days and weeks, presenting a challenge to a president who is in the middle of a trade war with China and looking at a possible shooting war with Iran.