“I give President Trump great credit for this decision,” purred Sen. John McCain.
“Wrote the book on the importance of standing up” to the president, was Rep. Adam Schiff’s take.
Sen. Tom Cotton: “A true warrior-scholar.”
Andrew Exum spoke for a unanimously relieved Establishment: “It is not an overstatement to say that Americans and the world should feel a little safer today.”
Unfortunately, he meant that actual day.
Because a level-headed, authority-questioning, experienced, knowledgeable fellow like General H.R. McMaster has, by nature, a limited shelf life in a hotbox like Himself’s White House. And, according to Bloomberg, the curdling is well under way.
Trump has complained in front of McMaster in intelligence briefings about "the general undermining my policy," according to two White House officials. The president has given McMaster less face time. McMaster's requests to brief the president before some press interviews have been declined. Over the weekend, McMaster did not accompany Trump to meet with Australia's prime minister; the outgoing deputy national security adviser, K.T. McFarland, attended instead.
…
Trump has privately expressed regret for choosing McMaster. Last Monday, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, who was a finalist for McMaster's job, met with Trump to discuss a range of issues with the National Security Council. White House officials tell me the two discussed the prospect of Bolton coming in as McMaster's deputy, but eventually agreed it was not a good fit.
…
The first conflict between McMaster and Trump was about the major speech the president delivered at the end of February to a joint session of Congress. McMaster pleaded with the president not to use phrase "radical Islamic terrorism." He sent memos throughout the government complaining about a draft of that speech that included the phrase. But the phrase remained. When Trump delivered the speech, he echoed his campaign rhetoric by emphasizing each word: "Radical." "Islamic." "Terrorism."
Followed quickly by President Bannon insisting that any Obama national security hires be fired immediately and McMaster balking. Then Priebus blocking McMaster’s hire of his chosen deputy Brigadier General Ricky Waddell.
All exacerbated by McMaster’s continued insistence that national security is something that really ought to be taken, well, seriously, it seems. Something that is bound to chap the hide of a fellow who has never been confirmed to have read a book in his adult life.
That last is, of course, my own interpretation. The general has made no comment on his experiences so far in service to Himself.
For public consumption, the White House offers smiles and tales of kumbaya. As the author of the Bloomberg piece, Eli Lake, concludes,
For now the White House is saying the president and his national security adviser are in sync. Trump said in his statement to me that he couldn't be happier with the general. Of course, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway assured the public in February that Trump had full confidence in McMaster's predecessor. Only a few hours later, he was forced to resign.
Personally, my sympathies are with the general. Though it was certainly obvious, if only from how the position came vacant, that he was climbing aboard the crazy train, he comes from an institution where, when you are asked to serve, you serve, particularly when the call comes from the president of the United States.
For the rest of us, well, it was a comfort to think that there was, however briefly, an actual adult behind the wheel of the National Security Council. If anyone is interested in starting a pool on McMaster’s departure date and replacement, I’m buying squares on “before June” and “Bolton.”
Here’s my ten. I’ll be in the bar.