Trump decides to oust national security advisor

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has decided to sack National Security Advisor HR McMaster, in what would be the latest in a string of high-profile White House departures, reporters reported Thursday (Mar 15).

Reporters reported that Trump is discussing potential replacements for McMaster, but is willing to take his time because he wants to avoid humiliating him as well as to have a successor ready.

Citing five people with knowledge of the plans, reporters said Trump was considering several possible replacements, including former US Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton and Keith Kellogg, the chief of staff of the National Security Council.

Trump never personally gelled with McMaster and the president recently told White House Chief of Staff John Kelly that he wanted McMaster replaced, according to reporters.

Trump has complained that McMaster, a three-star Army general, is too rigid and that his briefings go on too long and seem irrelevant, reporters reported.

McMaster is Trump's second national security adviser, succeeding Michael Flynn who was dismissed a year ago for misleading Vice-President Mike Pence about his contacts with the Russian ambassador to the United States.

The report comes just two days after the president fired Rex Tillerson as secretary of state - a move announced on Trump's Twitter account.

Trump also signalled in recent days that a shake-up at the top levels of his administration was not over.

"I'm really at a point where we're getting very close to having the Cabinet and other things that I want," Trump told reporters after Tillerson was fired.

Gary Cohn, Trump's top economic advisor, resigned earlier this month, and Trump's White House tenure has also seen the departure of his chief strategist, chief of staff and his first national security advisor, among other officials.