McMaster’s 'not going anywhere': White House spokeswoman

The White House has sought to dispel reports that National Security Adviser Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster could be fired by President Donald Trump as early as this month.

"Look, Gen. McMaster's not going anywhere," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told Fox News on Friday.

"As the president said yesterday in the Oval Office to a number of people, he thinks he's doing a great job. He's glad he's here."

The White House response came after reports said on Thursday that White House chief of staff John Kelly and Defense Secretary James Mattis are planning to replace McMaster, whose relations with Trump have been strained over months.

According to some people familiar with the discussions, a leading candidate is expected to become the next national security adviser is the auto industry executive Stephen Biegun, who currently serves as vice president of international governmental affairs for the Ford Motor Company.

White House deputy press secretary Raj Shah on Thursday stopped short of outrightly denying the reports, saying that the Trump administration had no announcements regarding McMaster's possible stepping down.

"We frequently face rumor and innuendo about senior administration officials," he said in a statement. "There are no personnel announcements at this time,” Shah said.

Trump appointed McMaster his national security adviser in February 2017 after Michael Flynn was ousted amid accusations that Flynn lied to Vice President Pence and others about his contacts with the Russian ambassador to the US.

Trump had defended McMaster as a “very pro-Israel” person in the face of a full-blown campaign by the far-right wing of his political coalition demanding his ouster.

The push for McMaster’s dismissal by the staunchly pro-Israel political right came after he fired several ultra-conservatives on the national security staff last year and also warned against tearing up the nuclear agreement with Iran – negotiated in part by the Barack Obama administration – without a strategy for potential consequences, according to media reports. 

Last month, however, Trump rebuked McMaster after the national security adviser claimed that the evidence that Russia meddled in the 2016 US presidential election was "incontrovertible."

"General McMaster forgot to say that the results of the 2016 election were not impacted or changed by the Russians and that the only Collusion was between Russia and Crooked H, the DNC and the Dems," Trump tweeted.

PressTV-Trump slams collusion with Russia as 'hoax’

Donald Trump has said that his election campaign’s collusion with the Russian government during the US 2016 presidential election was a “hoax”.

Trump said that his election campaign’s collusion with the Russian government during the 2016 presidential election was a “hoax”.

Trump has repeatedly denied allegations that his campaign colluded with Russians and has condemned the investigations. Russia has also denied the allegations. Trump has also labeled Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation as a “witch hunt,” and has suggested that Russians might have meddled in favor of Hillary Clinton.

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