President Trump apparently isn't as thrilled with his new national security adviser as he says he is, Bloomberg reported Monday. While Trump claimed publicly Sunday that he "couldn't be happier" with General H.R. McMaster and the "terrific job" he's doing, White House officials report he's actually "disillusioned" with McMaster.
Part of the problem, Bloomberg reported, is McMaster's failure "to read the president ... at times even lecturing Trump":
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 the 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." [Bloomberg]
Trump is also apparently convinced that McMaster is "undermining his policy." Bloomberg reported that Trump once "screamed" at McMaster for assuring South Korea "that the president's threat to make that country pay for a new missile defense system was not official policy," a move that Trump claimed was "undercutting efforts to get South Korea to pay its fair share."
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And that's not all: Trump has also reportedly complained about McMaster in front of McMaster at intelligence briefings; declined McMaster's requests to brief him before press interviews; and he even took the outgoing deputy national security adviser instead of McMaster to his meeting with Australia's prime minister.
But, the White House insists, all is well. Read the full story on tensions between Trump and McMaster at Bloomberg.
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