One day after the shocking announcement that President Trump’s fourth communications director, Hope Hicks, was resigning, the administration looks set to lose yet another key official. On Thursday, MSNBC first reported that the White House was prepping to replace H.R. McMaster — who is Trump’s second national security advisor — and that the change has been spearheaded by Chief of Staff John Kelly and Defense Secretary James “Mad Dog” Mattis.
Of course, this is an amazing report to behold because this president has seen an extraordinary amount of turnover in about a year, and the trend doesn’t appear to be ending. MSNBC cites five sources who say this will happen within a month, and NBC News follows up with details on a likely replacement:
A leading candidate to become President Donald Trump’s third national security adviser is the auto industry executive Stephen Biegun, according to the officials.
Biegun, who serves as vice president of international governmental affairs for the Ford Motor Company, served on the National Security Council staff from 2001 to 2003, including as a senior staffer for then-national security adviser Condoleezza Rice.
Trump appointed McMaster after the resignation of Michael Flynn, who exited over mounting reports of his vulnerability to Russian blackmail. Flynn has since worked out a sweetheart deal with Special Counsel Robert Mueller in the Russia probe, but he was the first of many to leave their posts or be fired. As for McMaster, reports of presidential friction arrived shortly after he began his role, and as is often the case, it seems as those reports weren’t unfounded.