'An extremely disruptive person' : H.R. McMaster says he won't serve in second Trump term
Former National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, who served under Donald Trump, said he would not join the former president's second administration if he is reelected this fall.
As November draws closer, the former Army lieutenant general describes his time working for Trump as a "tour of duty" in his new book “At War with Ourselves: My Tour of Duty in the Trump White House." Describing him as "very offensive" and "brash," McMaster said he would not serve under the former president again in a CNN interview Monday.
"I will work in any administration where I feel like I can make a difference, but I’m kind of used up with Donald Trump,” McMaster told CNN's Anderson Cooper.
McMaster succeeded Michael Flynn as Trump's national security adviser in February 2017. Former White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said McMaster and Trump had a "good working relationship" in March of 2018, but Trump announced he would replace McMaster with John Bolton the same month.
McMaster said although it was a "privilege" to serve, he also does not see himself working in a Kamala Harris administration if she wins in November.
In his new book, McMaster claims Trump pitted members of his administration against one another. He told Cooper other former presidents did the same, but that "everything was magnified" under Trump.
“He’s an extremely disruptive person,” he said. “I saw it as my job, you know, not to try to constrain him, but to help him disrupt what needed to be disrupted.”
He added that he hopes Trump learns from his first four years in office, particularly that Russian President Vladimir Putin is not his friend.
He hypothesizes in the book that Trump figured if he was accepted by strongmen like Putin, he could convince himself and others that he was also strong.
Rachel Barber is a 2024 election fellow at Paste BN, focusing on politics and education. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, at @rachelbarber_