On Monday, US President Trump named Lieutenant General Herbert Raymond McMaster as his new national security adviser, replacing Lt Gen Michael Flynn who was fired after just three weeks and three days in the job.
McMaster is a widely respected US military leader who once wrote a book criticising the military for failing to sufficiently challenge civilian leaders during the Vietnam War.
“He is highly respected by everybody in the military and we’re very honoured to have him,” Trump told reporters in West Palm Beach where he spent the weekend. “He’s a man of tremendous talent and tremendous experience.”
Other candidates in the running were Robert Caslen, Army lieutenant general who is the superintendent of the US Military Academy at West Point, and career diplomat John Bolton, who served as George W Bush’s ambassador to the UN from August 2005 to December 2006.
A subject where there is potential for Trump and McMaster to differ is Russia. McMaster shares the view among the U.S. national security establishment that Russia is a threat and an antagonist to the United States, whilst Trump has suggested a more positive outlook on a relationship with President Putin.
Time magazine named him as one of its 100 most influential people in the world in 2014, saying he “might be the 21st Century Army’s pre-eminent warrior-thinker”
“I’m grateful to you for that opportunity,” McMaster told the President on Monday. “And I look forward to joining the national security team and doing everything that I can to advance and protect the interests of the American people.”
Mr Trump says Mr Bolton will also serve his government “in another capacity”.
The decision made by the government has been supported by many Trump critics, including Republican Senator John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee who praised McMaster as an “outstanding” choice.