H.R. McMaster
As the news breaks today that National Security Advisor Mike Waltz is leaving the job as Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (APNSA) to become U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and that Secretary of State Marco Rubio will serve as interim APNSA, President Trump has an opportunity to reflect on his expectations for his next National Security Advisor.
The candidate’s base motivation will be of paramount importance. My experience in the White House convinced me that those who serve in any administration fall into one of three categories. First, those who want to give the President best analysis and multiple options so the President can advance his agenda. Second, those who serve because they want to manipulate decisions consistent with their, not the President’s, agenda. And third, those who assume the role of protecting the country (and maybe the world) from what they regard as a dangerous agenda. The President should choose someone in the first category—but once he does, those in the second and third categories will try to undermine efforts to provide best advice and multiple options.
I believe that Mike Waltz understood his role as the honest broker, and that may be the fundamental reason for his relatively short tenure.
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