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US President Donald Trump’s pick for national security adviser drew praise even from his staunchest critic Senator John McCain of Arizona. Trump chose H.R McMaster to fill the post left vacant after the resignation of Michael Flynn over Russian call controversy. Flynn resigned last week over the allegation that he misled Vice President Pence about contacts with Russian envoy.
McCain called the 54-year-old McMaster ‘an outstanding choice,’ and gave President Trump thumbs up for his decision. Trump’s move will reassure the administration critics who have been increasingly vocal about differences with US president.
McMaster is a decorated officer with a widely held reputation of speaking his mind, a trait that hasn’t always been welcome in the White House where loyalty to the president is prized most of all. Trump still thinks that media was not honest with Flynn, rather than holding him accountable for his act. The Republican billionaire reluctantly let Flynn go despite wrongdoings. The disgraced national security adviser Flynn privately discussed US sanctions with Russian envoy during the month before Trump took office. There are multiple investigations underway by the FBI and intelligence community into alleged communication between Russian agents and officials associated with Trump’s campaign.
So, McMaster’s appointment seems to be a right step forward by Trump’s fledgling administration. McMaster is known to be a bit of a rebel in the military. It’s an important pick because it means Trump is not going to have a national security adviser who is a yes man and does things to appease the master rather than to make country safe.
McMaster will also try to delve deep into the cases, including Russian hacking and Flynn’s motive behind his lying about the phone call. The new security adviser would also be sitting in on the daily presidential intelligence briefing, reviewing threats on everything from IS terrorists to North Korean missile launches.
Given McMaster background and his reputation of being an independent mind, there is likelihood of opinion clashes in the White House. And Russia is one potential subject for such differences. The confusion continues over the US approach towards Russia. On the one hand, Trump is repeatedly saying he’ll seek better ties with Moscow. On the other hand Trump’s key aides, including Defense Secretary James Mattis and UN envoy Nikki Haley, say Washington remains committed to sanctions against Moscow over its actions in Ukraine.
The skepticism over Trump approach towards Putin remains despite a series of meetings in Europe over the past week, where Pence and Rex Tillerson backed the sanctions against Russia. What complicates Russian issue more is a report of The New York Times exposing that Donald Trump’s lawyers, Michael Cohen, along with two other men, attempted to deliver a sealed proposal for crafting a Ukraine peace accord and lifting Russian sanctions to then National Security Adviser Michael Flynn shortly before his resignation. Cohen argues that he hadn’t taken the sanctions plan to the White House nor had he spoken to anyone about it.
In this backdrop, McMaster is likely to take a hawkish stance towards Russia. Kremlin hasn’t yet commented on the appointment of the new security adviser. Moscow has taken a wait-and-see approach recently as Trump has encountered an array of challenges and faced a strong opposition in Congress to a rapprochement with Russia. Surely, it is better not to reach a hasty conclusion.