Trump is reportedly 'furious' that McMaster fired an NSC staffer behind a Trump-under-attack memo


Over the past few weeks, National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster has pushed out a handful of National Security Council officials who were holdovers from his predecessor, Michael Flynn, and seen as allied with White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon and his nationalist wing of the Trump administration. The house cleaning started with Rich Higgins, the NSC director of strategic planning and the author of a seven-page memo titled "POTUS & Political Warfare" that was being passed around among likeminded members of President Trump's campaign and transition. When the memo, written in May, was found on Higgins' computer in mid-July, he was told by McMaster's deputy that he could resign or be fired, sources tell Foreign Policy, which published the memo on Thursday.
The memo lays out what Higgins views as the concerted effort to thwart and topple Trump. "While opposition to President Trump manifests itself through political warfare memes centered on cultural Marxist narratives, this hardly means that opposition is limited to Marxists as conventionally understood," he wrote. "Having become the dominant cultural meme, some benefit from it while others are captured by it; including 'deep state' actors, globalists, bankers, Islamists, and establishment Republicans."
Foreign Policy's Trump administration and NSC sources say McMaster discovered the memo during a hunt for internal leakers to right-wing blogger Mike Cernovich, who has been agitating to get McMaster fired for months — a campaign that has picked up since McMaster fired the four Flynn holdovers. Foreign Policy explains what happened next:
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In the meantime, however, the memo had been working its way through the Trump White House. Among those who received the memo, according to two sources, was Donald Trump Jr. Trump Jr., at that time in the glare of media scrutiny around his meeting with a Russian lawyer at Trump Tower during the presidential campaign, gave the memo to his father, who gushed over it, according to sources. In a comedy of errors, Trump later learned from Sean Hannity, the Fox News host and close friend of the president, that the memo's author had been fired. Trump was "furious," the senior administration official said. "He is still furious." [Foreign Policy]
Several of the magazine's administration sources said they believe Higgins' analysis was correct, if sometimes a little conspiratorial, and that despite Trump's sticking up for McMaster, his job isn't very secure. You can read more, and read the memo, at Foreign Policy.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Democrats: The 2028 race has begun
Feature Democratic primaries have already kicked off in South Carolina
-
The Pentagon's missing missiles
Feature The U.S. military is low on weapons. Can it restock before a major conflict breaks out?
-
Rescissions: Trump's push to control federal spending
Feature The GOP passed a bill to reduce funding for PBS, NPR and other public media stations
-
Trump executive order targets homeless
Speed Read It will now be easier for states and cities to remove homeless people from the streets
-
Columbia pays $200M to settle with White House
Speed Read The Trump administration accused the school of failing to protect its Jewish students amid pro-Palestinian protests
-
Florida judge and DOJ make Epstein trouble for Trump
Speed Read The Trump administration's request to release grand jury transcripts from the Epstein investigation was denied
-
Trump attacks Obama as Epstein furor mounts
Speed Read The Trump administration accused the Obama administration of 'treasonous' behavior during the 2016 election
-
Trump administration releases MLK files
Speed Read Newly released documents on the 1968 assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. did not hold any new revelations, King historians said
-
Japan's prime minister feels pressure after election losses
Speed Read Shigeru Ishiba has vowed to remain in office
-
President diagnosed with 'chronic venous insufficiency'
Speed Read The vein disorder has given Trump swollen ankles and visible bruising on his hands
-
'Bawdy' Trump letter supercharges Epstein scandal
Speed Read The Wall Street Journal published details of Trump's alleged birthday letter to Epstein