TRUMP PRAISES McMASTER TO NYT: 'HE IS A GOOD MAN'
Tod Beamon
President Donald Trump late Friday defended National Security Adviser H. R. McMaster after attacks by conservatives, telling The New York Times that "Gen. McMaster and I are working very well together."
"He is a good man and very pro-Israel," Trump said in a statement emailed to the Times. "I am grateful for the work he continues to do serving our country."
In addition, a senior White House official told the Times that the president had "total confidence" in McMaster, an Army lieutenant general.
The official "spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the president's views," according to the report.
McMaster also drew praise from Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law and White House senior adviser.
"Gen. McMaster is a true public servant and a tremendous asset for the president and the administration," Kushner told the Times in an email.
"He has created and oversees a very thorough and clear process for the agencies to work together to give the president credible options to advance the president’s priorities for America’s foreign policy."
McMaster has been under fierce attack in recent days, including the focus of news reports that he has been having problems getting along with President Trump, has been locking horns with chief strategist Steve Bannon and would possibly be replaced by CIA Director Mike Pompeo.
He also has provoked outrage by urging Trump not to scrap the Iran nuclear agreement without a follow-up strategy — and speculation had become rampant that the president would send McMaster to Afghanistan.
In addition, McMaster also has been dismissing allies of Bannon and his predecessor, Michael Flynn, from the National Security Council.
Further, he was excoriated for renewing the security clearance of Susan Rice, President Barack Obama's last national security adviser, amid the unmasking controversy involving Trump associates and Russia.
Trump's statement "seemed intent on calming the waters, at least momentarily," the Times reports, cautioning "that does not mean Gen. McMaster’s job is secure in the long run.
http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/trump-praises-mcmaster-new-york-times/2017/08/04/id/805978/