McMaster out, Bolton in as Trump's national security adviser
WASHINGTON - Charging ahead with the dramatic remaking of his White House, US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he would replace national security adviser HR McMaster with the former UN Ambassador John Bolton, a foreign policy hawk entering a White House facing key decisions on Iran and North Korea.
After weeks of speculation about McMaster's future, Trump and the respected three-star general put a positive face on the departure, making no reference to the growing public friction between them.
Trump tweeted on Thursday that McMaster had done "an outstanding job and will always remain my friend." He said Bolton will take over on April 9 as his third national security adviser in just over a year.
The national security shakeup comes as the president is increasingly shedding advisers who once eased the Republican establishment's concerns about the foreign policy and political novice in the White House.
McMaster is the sixth close adviser or aide to announce a departure in a turbulent six weeks, joining ally Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who was unceremoniously fired last week.
The White House has said the president is seeking to put new foreign policy leaders in place ahead of not-yet-scheduled meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jung Un.
Bolton is likely to add a hardline influence to those talks, as well as deliberations over whether to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal.
Bolton called the appointment "an honour" in a late Thursday statement, saying he looks "forward to working with President Trump and his leadership team" to "make our country safer at home and stronger abroad."
The White House said on Thursday that McMaster's exit had been under discussion for some time and stressed it was not due to any one incident, including this week's stunning leak about Trump's recent phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
McMaster had briefed Trump before the Putin call - and his team drafted all-caps instructions telling Trump not to congratulate the Russian leader on his re-election victory. Trump did it anyway.
An internal investigation into the leak is underway, said a White House official who - like others interviewed about the announcement and the White House shakeup - demanded anonymity to discuss internal matters.