The Hill, 20 February 2017 – Speaking to reporters at Mar-a-Lago in Florida on Monday afternoon, President Donald Trump said he’ll name Lt. Gen.( Herbert Raymond )H.R McMaster as national security adviser.
Acting national security adviser Keith Kellogg will be chief of staff for the National Security Council, according to the White House pool report.
Trump called McMaster “a man of tremendous talent and tremendous experience.”
McMaster thanked the president for the opportunity.
“I’d just like to say what a privilege it is to be able to continue serving our nation,” he said.
“I’m grateful to you for that opportunity and I look forward to joining the national security team and doing everything I can to advance and protect the interests of the American people.”
The president said Kellogg would serve as chief of staff under McMaster.
“I think that combination is something very, very special,” Trump said.
Trump said he met with many other candidates for the position and said he has “tremendous respect for” them.
“I know John Bolton we’re going to be asking to work with us in a somewhat different capacity,” he said of the former United Nations ambassador who was said to be in the running for the job.
“John is a terrific guy, we had some really good meetings with him, knows a lot.”
The president said he’ll be talking to some of the other generals he met with “that I’ve really, really gained a lot of respect for.”
Former national security adviser Michael Flynn resigned last week amid revelations that he discussed U.S. sanctions with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in the month before Trump took office. The former national security adviser admitted that he briefed Vice President Mike Pence and other White House officials with “incomplete information,” which they then shared in cable news interview
