Two top White House advisers may leave over tensions with Trump - sources

[webfact]

Two top White House advisers may leave over tensions with Trump - sources

By John Walcott

 

White House Chief of Staff John Kelly (L) talks with U.S. National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster during a panel convened to discuss reforming the United Nations before the 72nd United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S., September 18, 2017. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Longstanding friction between U.S. President Donald Trump and two top aides, the National Security Adviser and the Chief of Staff, has grown to a point that either or both might quit soon, four senior administration officials said.

 

Both H.R. McMaster and John Kelly are military men considered by U.S. political observers as moderating influences on the president by imposing a routine on the White House. They have also convinced Trump of the importance of international alliances, particularly NATO, which he has criticized as not equally sharing its burdens with the United States.

 

However, all the officials were quick to add that the tensions could blow over, at least for now, as have previous episodes of discord between the president and other top officials who have fallen out of favour, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

 

Asked about sources saying that either National Security Adviser McMaster or Chief of Staff Kelly, or both, might be leaving, White House spokesman Raj Shah on Thursday did not address the possibility. He said, "the president has full confidence in each member of the team."

 

Press secretary Sarah Sanders said on Tuesday that Trump "still has confidence in General McMaster."

 

Neither Kelly nor McMaster responded to requests for comment on whether they would remain in the administration.

 

Trump swatted McMaster in a Twitter post after his comments at a European conference last weekend that he was certain Russia meddled in the 2016 U.S. election campaign, which Trump has been reluctant to acknowledge.

 

Kelly and McMaster have chafed at Trump's treatment of them in public and in private, which both at times have considered insulting, said all four officials, speaking on condition of anonymity.

 

The current and most potent irritant, they said, is Kelly's effort, supported by McMaster, to prevent administration officials who have been unable to obtain permanent high-level security clearances from having access to the government's most closely held secrets.

 

Under pressure to act last week, Kelly strengthened the security clearance process in response to a scandal involving Rob Porter, a former official accused of domestic abuse by two ex-wives. Staffers whose interim clearances have been pending since June would have them revoked on Friday.

 

That would bar Trump's son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner from reading the president's daily intelligence brief, which often contains information on covert operations and intelligence collected from spy satellites, spies, and close U.S. allies.

 

"There have been running battles between Trump and his generals," said one of the officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity. Kelly is a retired Marine general and McMaster an Army lieutenant general.

 

"But the clearance business is personal, and if Trump sets special rules for family members, I'm not sure if Kelly and McMaster would salute," the official said.

 

White House officials were working to find a compromise that would allow Kushner to continue his work as a senior adviser to Trump, another source familiar with the situation said, also speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal White House matters.

 

Under current law and regulation, the president has authority to grant any level of clearance to anyone he chooses, but officials wanted to avoid that option, this official said. There was no sense that Kushner would be leaving his job.

 

Kelly declined to comment on anybody's specific security clearance. He said in a statement that he had told Kushner days ago that he had "full confidence in his ability to continue performing his duties in his foreign policy portfolio."

 

Kelly said those duties include overseeing the Israeli-Palestinian peace effort and serving as an integral part of the U.S. relationship with Mexico.

 

McMaster's support for Kelly on the security clearance issue is only his latest difference with Trump. Officials in the Defense Department said there have been discussions about him returning to the Army, possibly as head of the Forces Command at Fort Bragg, in North Carolina.

 

McMaster, 55, previously served as deputy commander there.Although he has been supportive of Trump on many issues, including threatening North Korea with military action, McMaster has taken a harder stance on Russia than his boss.

 

After U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller charged 13 Russians, a Russian propaganda arm and two other firms on Feb. 16 with tampering in the election to boost Trump, McMaster said the evidence of Moscow's meddling was "incontrovertible."

 

Trump publicly chastised McMaster in a Twitter post, saying McMaster "forgot to say that the results of the 2016 election were not impacted by the Russians."

 

(Reporting by John Walcott; Additional reporting by Steve Holland and Mark Hosenball; Editing by Mary Milliken and Grant McCool)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-02-23

[tonray]

What did they expect ?  Working for a guy with a 3rd grade reading comprehension and a penchant for golfing and watching Fox and Friends instead of dealing with real issues.

[Silurian]

7 minutes ago, webfact said:

Under current law and regulation, the president has authority to grant any level of clearance to anyone he chooses, but officials wanted to avoid that option, this official said. There was no sense that Kushner would be leaving his job.

 

Ah, nepotism at its finest. Since Kushner could never hope to get security clearance on his own due to all those past shady dealings, the WH will step in and just grant him one without any thought to normal processes and procedures. John Kelly may wish to try to have some sense of law and order in the WH it will never happen while the clueless reality TV persona is president.

[AlexRich]

Do Russia have the goods on Trump?

[Langsuan Man]

[boomerangutang]

White House spokesman Raj Shah on Thursday did not address the possibility. He said, "the president has full confidence in each member of the team."

Press secretary Sarah Sanders said on Tuesday that Trump "still has confidence in General McMaster."

The kiss of death.  Every time an Oval Office insider is about to be booted out, we hear the same pap smear: "the president has full confidence in .....fill in the blanks."

 

Trump even threw Comey a kiss (I jest not) just a day or two before rudely kicking him out.  Indeed, Trump didn't even have the decency to inform Comey.  He sent a lower-down to tell him, but not before Comey heard in on a TV news show, while giving a speech to FBI agents.  

 

The only thing ruder is a guy who breaks up with his wife by leaving his mistresses' soiled panties (and moist sex toys) on the married couples' sweaty bed sheets for the wife to find when she returns home from picking up their little kids at day-care.  Trump has probably done that also, to Marla and/or Ivana.

[mike324]

Can any Trump supporter here explain why so many folks are leaving the Trump administration when Trump said he hires the most qualified folks?

[mtls2005]

It seems like McMaster is definitely out, maybe back to the Pentagon for a 4-star promotion. Assume he wants out, at least based on his forthrightness in Munich last week.

 

Kelly seems to be up against Jared, maybe, so is reasserting his position, which appears to be very weak now, in a "him or me" last stand. Not sure if he'll go back to DHS?

 

The larger question(s) is who would replace these guys, both of whom occupy perhaps the most important positions? 

 

I guess Ivanka might replace Kelly, and Jared would replace McMaster? (said in all seriousness).

 

 

[Guest]

Still remember when Trump asked 3 times.

 

"If we have nuclear weapons, why can't we use those." 

 

If the moderators of the President of the United States leave the White house, world becomes scarier place to be.

 

The current president of USA, with access to vast amount of nuclear weapons, does not understand the power of those weapons. That ignorance is actually really scary when combined with lot of power.

 

[billd766]

quote from the OP.

 

" Asked about sources saying that either National Security Adviser McMaster or Chief of Staff Kelly, or both, might be leaving, White House spokesman Raj Shah on Thursday did not address the possibility. He said, "the president has full confidence in each member of the team."

 

The most important and vital question is, does every member of the team have full confidence with President Trump?

[Morch]

2 hours ago, mike324 said:

Can any Trump supporter here explain why so many folks are leaving the Trump administration when Trump said he hires the most qualified folks?

 

Winning!

[Morch]

2 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

It seems like McMaster is definitely out, maybe back to the Pentagon for a 4-star promotion. Assume he wants out, at least based on his forthrightness in Munich last week.

 

Kelly seems to be up against Jared, maybe, so is reasserting his position, which appears to be very weak now, in a "him or me" last stand. Not sure if he'll go back to DHS?

 

The larger question(s) is who would replace these guys, both of whom occupy perhaps the most important positions? 

 

I guess Ivanka might replace Kelly, and Jared would replace McMaster? (said in all seriousness).

 

 

 

John Bolton's name was floated in the past as a possible replacement for McMaster. There were also reports of  potential Kelly replacements considered, more variance there.

[tonray]

11 minutes ago, Morch said:

 

John Bolton's name was floated in the past as a possible replacement for McMaster. There were also reports of  potential Kelly replacements considered, more variance there.

A dubious choice..a guy who openly advocates ear with Iran at every opportunity. Another idiot on Israel's payroll

[Morch]

2 minutes ago, tonray said:

A dubious choice..a guy who openly advocates ear with Iran at every opportunity. Another idiot on Israel's payroll

 

I didn't say he was a good choice, just that his name came up. Regarding Iran - both McMaster and Mattis were (are) considered hardliners, yet when push came to shove they did not fully back Trump's views. As for dubious, your last bit certainly is.

 

[rudi49jr]

5 hours ago, tonray said:

What did they expect ?  Working for a guy with a 3rd grade reading comprehension and a penchant for golfing and watching Fox and Friends instead of dealing with real issues.

Not to mention the emotional maturity of a 12-year-old with a strong propensity to throw a hissy fit every time someone says something bad (either real or imagined) about him

[soalbundy]

7 hours ago, mike324 said:

Can any Trump supporter here explain why so many folks are leaving the Trump administration when Trump said he hires the most qualified folks?

It is because they are qualified that they are leaving, he may have confidence in them but they have none in him, I mean hey why leave a secure job in the Trump administration  

[tonray]

7 hours ago, mike324 said:

Can any Trump supporter here explain why so many folks are leaving the Trump administration when Trump said he hires the most qualified folks?

He is MAGA:

 

Making America Gasp Again

[Scott]

Troll posts removed.  

[Jonnapat]

On 23/02/2018 at 10:29 AM, mike324 said:

Can any Trump supporter here explain why so many folks are leaving the Trump administration when Trump said he hires the most qualified folks?

Not only are they leaving but apparently there are hundreds of positions still vacant because nobody wants to work for this administration 

[Langsuan Man]

5 hours ago, Jonnapat said:

Trump said

There is your answer right there..........

[spidermike007]

The current and most potent irritant, they said, is Kelly's effort, supported by McMaster, to prevent administration officials who have been unable to obtain permanent high-level security clearances from having access to the government's most closely held secrets.

 

Under pressure to act last week, Kelly strengthened the security clearance process in response to a scandal involving Rob Porter, a former official accused of domestic abuse by two ex-wives. Staffers whose interim clearances have been pending since June would have them revoked on Friday.

 

That would bar Trump's son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner from reading the president's daily intelligence brief, which often contains information on covert operations and intelligence collected from spy satellites, spies, and close U.S. allies.

 

"There have been running battles between Trump and his generals," said one of the officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity. Kelly is a retired Marine general and McMaster an Army lieutenant general.

 

"But the clearance business is personal, and if Trump sets special rules for family members, I'm not sure if Kelly and McMaster would salute," the official said.

 

 

 

Kushner does not deserve a security clearance. Neither does Ivanka. They bring nothing to the table. In the case of Jared the joke, his family is near bankruptcy, and desperate for more deals, so they can stay solvent. His father has already been to prison, and one can only hope the son ends up there too. They are a crime family, no doubt, much like Trump.

 

In terms of these two men leaving, they are very accomplished military men. This is something Tiny Trump has no understanding of. He does not know how to spell the word discipline. These two men do know what discipline is. Trump can call the officer in Parkland, Florida, a coward for not running into a fusillade of bullets. But when it was Trumps turn, he did everything in his power to get FIVE deferments from facing enemy fire. Trump is the coward, and in addition, he is a dotard. 

 

For tiny, it is all about family, and it means nothing whether or not these people are qualified on any level. And they are most definitely not. Qualified to run a local chapter of the boy or girl scouts, maybe. I would hope these two distinguished men would abandon this sinking ship soon. 

Edited February 25, 2018 by spidermike007