WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump has decided to remove H.R. McMaster as his national security adviser and is actively discussing potential replacements, according to five people with knowledge of the plans, while the White House denied that Trump was considering yet another jolt to the senior ranks of his administration.
The people said Trump is now comfortable with ousting McMaster, with whom he never personally gelled, but is willing to take time executing the move because he wants to ensure both that the three-star Army general is not humiliated and that there is a strong successor lined up.
How long McMaster might stay at the White House is unclear. Two other White House officials said Trump might want to keep McMaster in the job until after a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, which is planned for May.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, wrote on Twitter on Thursday night that she had spoken to Trump and to McMaster and that "contrary to reports they have a good working relationship and there are no changes" planned at the National Security Council.
Trump had signaled earlier Thursday that more personnel moves were likely.
"There will always be change," the president told reporters. "And I think you want to see change. I want to also see different ideas."
Just days ago, Trump used Twitter to fire Rex Tillerson, the secretary of state whom he disliked, and moved to install his close ally, CIA Director Mike Pompeo, in the job. On Wednesday, he named conservative TV analyst Larry Kudlow to replace his top economic adviser, Gary Cohn, who quit over trade disagreements.
At the White House, staff members said they are gripped by fear and uncertainty as they await the next move from a president who has said he enjoys stoking conflict. The descriptions of the administration in turmoil are based on interviews with 19 presidential advisers and administration officials, many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to offer candid perspectives.
McMaster went to the White House to head the National Security Council just more than a year ago, in February 2017, replacing Michael Flynn, the former military intelligence officer who had been Trump's national security aide during the campaign.
Flynn was fired within weeks of Trump's inauguration, ostensibly for lying to Vice President Mike Pence about conversations that Flynn had with Russia's ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak, during the transition. The conversations included discussions about Obama-era sanctions on Russia for meddling in the 2016 campaign, something Flynn had denied.
In recent weeks, McMaster played a central role in responding to messages from South Korea about North Korea's willingness to meet with U.S. officials.
McMaster is traveling to California today to meet Saturday with his counterparts from South Korea and Japan to continue discussions on North Korea, their third such meeting, a White House official said. The meeting reflects the depth of McMaster's involvement on the North Korea issue that will be a central focus for Trump over the course of the coming months.
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Yet Trump recently told White House Chief of Staff John Kelly that he wants McMaster out and asked for help weighing replacement options, according to two people familiar with their conversations. The president has complained that McMaster is too rigid and that his briefings go on too long and seem irrelevant.
McMaster also frequently found himself caught between the president and the machinations of the other main players on the national security team -- Defense Secretary James Mattis and, until this week, Tillerson -- as they sought to keep a lid on actions they didn't want Trump to take, according to White House officials.
That put McMaster in the crossfire in dealing with Trump's demands for contentious policy actions such as the exiting Iran deal, punishing Pakistan for not being more aggressively going after terror groups, and moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
Some in the White House have been reluctant to oust McMaster from his national security perch until he has a promotion to four-star rank or other comfortable landing spot, aides said. They are eager to show that someone can serve in the Trump administration without suffering severe damage to his reputation.
McMaster has told aides that he would not return to the military, even if offered a fourth star. He plans to stay in the job as long as the president wants him to serve, he has said.
OTHERS UNDER FIRE
McMaster is not the only senior official on thin ice with the president.
Others considered at risk for being fired or reprimanded include Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin, who has attracted Trump's ire for his spending decisions as well as for general disorder in the senior leadership of his agency; Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, who has generated bad headlines for ordering a $31,000 dining room set for his office; Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt, who has been under fire for his first-class travel at taxpayer expense; and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, whose agency spent $139,000 to renovate his office doors.
This week, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos drew a slew of negative press coverage when she stumbled through a pair of high-profile television interviews. Kelly watched DeVos' interview with Lesley Stahl of CBS' 60 Minutes with frustration and complained about the secretary's apparent lack of preparation, officials said.
And then there's Attorney General Jeff Sessions, whose decision to recuse himself from oversight of the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election has made him the regular target of presidential ire. The attorney general has threatened to resign at least once but has more recently indicated his determination to stay in the job.
Trump enjoys watching his subordinates compete for his approval, the officials said. Many rumors about possible firings are fueled by Trump himself, they said, because he complains to aides and friends about other staff members or muses about who might make good replacements.
"I like conflict. I like having two people with different points of view," Trump said last week, rapping his fists toward each other to simulate a clash. "I like watching it, I like seeing it, and I think it's the best way to go."
William Daley, who served as former President Barack Obama's chief of staff for about a year, called the turnover "devastating."
"No business could handle this, much less the government. It's supposed to be about stability and continuity. That's just not in [Trump's] lexicon," he said.
Information for this article was contributed by Ashley Parker, Josh Dawsey, Philip Rucker, Carol D. Leonnig and Greg Jaffe of The Washington Post; by Michael D. Shear and Maggie Haberman of The New York Times; by Brian Bennett of the Los Angeles Times; and by Margaret Talev of Bloomberg News.
A Section on 03/16/2018