Eli Lake, Columnist

Washington Loves General McMaster, But Trump Doesn't

The national security adviser has lost sway. The White House says everything's fine.

In happier times...

Photographer: Nicholas Kamm/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

For the Washington establishment, President Donald Trump's decision to make General H.R. McMaster his national security adviser in February was a masterstroke. Here is a well-respected defense intellectual, praised by both parties, lending a steady hand to a chaotic White House. The grown-ups are back.

But inside the White House, the McMaster pick has not gone over well with the one man who matters most. White House officials tell me Trump himself has clashed with McMaster in front of his staff.