Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Trump fills security adviser post
President selects Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster to replace Michael Flynn, who was forced out of the job last week.
PALM BEACH — President Donald Trump’s selection Monday of a cerebral, widely respected military strategist as his new national security adviser signaled an abrupt about-face from the chaotic tenure of Michael Flynn, forced out last week just shy of a month on the job.
The choice of Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, 54, who has a reputation for battlefield acumen as well as scholarly achievement, won quick bipartisan plaudits from key lawmakers charged with oversight of national security and intelligence.
Trump infused his choice of Flynn’s replacement with some of his trademark showmanship, summoning his four finalists for interviews over the weekend before the announcement of McMaster at his Mar-aLargo resort here. The president then brought the cameras into the room to introduce McMaster, seated beside him in uniform, as “a man of tremendous talent and experience.”
“He is highly respected by everyone in the military, and we’re very honored to have him,” Trump added.
McMaster has deep combat experience — he commanded forces in both Iraq wars and fought in an iconic tank confrontation in the first Iraq war known as the Battle of 73 Easting — but lacks the intelligence background Flynn had.
Whether that matters remains to be seen. Temperamentally, McMaster, is far from the volatile Flynn, who had raised alarm in many quarters over his conspiratorial outlook, his hotly anti-Islamic worldview and his murky ties to Russia.
Associates of the new security adviser, whose appointment doesn’t require congressional confirmation, have described him as tough and detail-oriented, with a wide-ranging intellect grounded in hard-won realism. He also has no immediately apparent connections to Russia, notable amid increasing calls in Washington for a congressional investigation into possible ties between Moscow and Trump’s associates.
“It is not an overstatement to say that Americans and the world should feel a little safer today,” tweeted Andrew Exum, an author and academic who saw combat in Afghanistan and writes widely about military affairs.
But McMaster, who will remain on active duty, as previous national security advisers Brent Scowcroft and Colin Powell did, will inherit a position already riddled with potential pitfalls.
Those include the ascension of White House strategist Steve Bannon to a permanent seat on the National Security Council — a sharp departure from previous White Houses that sought to shield the most sensitive security decision making from political influence.
McMaster’s greatest strengths could put him at loggerheads with Bannon and other powerful figures in the president’s camp.
He is perhaps best known for astute analysis underscoring the need to push back against power structures in both the military and the civilian leadership. McMaster turned his doctoral dissertation into a much-lauded book, “Dereliction of Duty,” which detailed the failings of presidential aides as well as the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Vietnam War.
That willingness to buck conventional wisdom carried over into his battlefield days in Iraq, where his thinking helped underpin the counterterrorism strategy of Gen. David Petraeus, widely credited with changing the course of that war.
Monday’s seemingly smooth rollout stood in sharp contrast to the tumult surrounding Flynn’s resignation a week earlier, which came at Trump’s behest after it became publicly known that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence and other senior administration officials about discussing U.S. sanctions with the Russian ambassador to Washington.
Trump’s first choice to succeed him, retired Vice Adm. Robert Harward, turned down the job amid reports that he had been unable to secure a pledge he would be able to pick his own staff. The insisted-on retention of deputy K.T. McFarland, a former Fox News commentator, was reportedly a deal-breaker for Harward, who publicly cited family and financial concerns in declining the position.
The White House emphasized the autonomy being given to McMaster.
“The president gave full authority for McMaster to hire whatever staff he sees fit,” a White House spokeswoman told reporters.
It is highly unusual for even a retired senior military officer like Harward to resist the call of the commander in chief to such a crucial position. For an active-duty officer like McMaster, there was little question of him stepping up.
At Mar-a-Largo, McMaster said it would be a “privilege” to serve.
Praise for Trump’s pick came from both sides of the political aisle. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the ranking member of the House intelligence committee, said on Twitter that McMaster was a solid choice, bright and strategic-minded.
Even some of Trump’s sharpest critics on the Republican side were effusive. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., , who in recent days had expressed some highly public misgivings about the administration’s foreignpolicy direction and fundamental values, called McMaster an “outstanding choice” and “a man of genuine intellect, character and ability.”