President Trump defended National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster in a statement Friday evening, attempting to ward off right-wing criticism the official has attracted this week. "General McMaster and I are working very well together," Trump said. "He is a good man and very pro-Israel. I am grateful for the work he continues to do serving our country."
McMaster has come under fire for his dismissal of several National Security Council staff members; his approach to the war in Afghanistan; and his renewal of security clearance for former President Obama's national security adviser, Susan Rice.
"McMaster has been undermining the president to the point of insubordination," said Mike Cernovich, a controversial right-wing activist who runs McMasterLeaks.com, in a representative critique of the former general. "For example," he continued, "McMaster has been pulling the security clearances of pro-Trump members of the NSC."