The national security adviser has had a tumultuous relationship with the president.
The White House is planning to replace national security adviser H.R. McMaster, five sources confirmed to NBC News on Thursday.
EXCLUSIVE: White House is preparing to replace H.R. McMaster as national security adviser, in a move orchestrated by CoS John Kelly and Defense Secretary James Mattis, according to five sources. pic.twitter.com/QsonsfU5EI
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) March 1, 2018
The move is said to be orchestrated by White House chief of staff John Kelly and Defense Secretary James Mattis, and General McMaster may be fired as early as the end of March.
Stephen Biegun, a former senior national security staffer under then-national security adviser Condoleezza Rice has been rumored a possible replacement for McMaster. Biegun is currently an executive at Ford Motors.
Rice is Biegun’s sponsor for the White House position and introduced him to Mattis.
A Ford spokesman said Biegun has no plans to leave Ford, however.
McMaster’s relationship with President Trump has been shaky, including a public kerfuffle with Trump after the Army general stated it was “incontrovertible” that Russia had interfered in the 2016 election.
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. Remember the Dirty Dossier, Uranium, Speeches, Emails and the Podesta Company!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 18, 2018
The Trump administration has fired numerous high-level staffers over its first year, some at the behest of General Kelly, who took over as chief of staff in July.
McMaster’s predecessor Michael Flynn was also fired after he admitted he lied to Vice President Mike Pence about his conversations with Moscow officials. Flynn is a high-profile player in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe.
McMaster, who had planned to retire before he was tapped as national security adviser last year, remains a highly respected lieutenant general on active duty in the Army.