McMaster out, Bolton in as national security aide
Ex-U.N. envoy Bolton replaces McMaster
President Donald Trump announces he will replace national security adviser H.R. McMaster with John Bolton, a former U.N. ambassador. Bolton will be the third person in the post since Trump took office.
WASHINGTON – President Trump accepted the resignation of National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster on Thursday and named John Bolton, a former ambassador to the United Nations and conservative foreign policy commentator, to succeed him.
McMaster’s ouster continues a period of particular turmoil in Trump’s national security team, following the ouster last week of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who was replaced by CIA Director Mike Pompeo.
But McMaster’s departure appears more amicable than that of Tillerson, who was fired by tweet. Trump and McMaster both released statements thanking each other. Trump described McMaster as an architect of his “America First” foreign policy and said that “his bravery and toughness are legendary.”
The White House said the move was the result of ongoing conversations and not any single problem or disagreement.
A three-star Army general, McMas-
ter, 55, will retire from the military after 34 years. Bolton will take over April 9, the White House said.
The 69-year-old lawyer has been a controversial figure in foreign policy establishment: He served as President George W. Bush’s ambassador to the United Nations but was appointed during a congressional recess and never confirmed by the Senate. He previously served in State and Justice Department posts under President Ronald Reagan and both Bushes.
The national security adviser post does not require Senate confirmation.
A former undersecretary of state for arms control, Bolton has been a hawk on Iran and North Korea. But as a Fox News commentator, he’s also been a skeptic on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, raising the possibility that it was a “false flag” operation, whereas the intelligence community has concluded Russia was responsible for the hacking of emails belonging to the Democratic Party and campaign officials for Hillary Clinton.
In an interview on Fox News on Thursday, Bolton declined to address any of his past statements.
“They’re all out there on the public record. I’ve never been shy about what my views are,” he said. “The important thing is what the president says and what advice I give him.”
In recent years, Bolton has run his own political operation, including a super PAC that bears his name, to support Republican candidates. The political action committee has relied on research from Cambridge Analytica, a voter profiling firm at the center of a controversy over what Facebook says was unauthorized use of the social network’s data.
In the 2016 election alone, Bolton’s super PAC paid more than $811,000 to Cambridge Analytica for “survey research,” according to Federal Election Commission filings.
Bolton will be Trump’s third national security adviser, after Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn was fired after less than a month for lying about his contacts with the Russian ambassador. He was indicted on related charges last year.