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Trump replaces National Security Adviser HR McMaster with John Bolton Trump replaces National Security Adviser HR McMaster with John Bolton
(35 minutes later)
President Trump is replacing US National Security Adviser HR McMaster with Bush-era defence hawk John Bolton. President Donald Trump is replacing US National Security Adviser HR McMaster with Bush-era defence hawk John Bolton.
In a tweet, Mr Trump said he was thankful for Mr McMaster's service and said he had done an "outstanding job". In a tweet, Mr Trump said he was thankful for Gen McMaster's service and said he had done an "outstanding job". Mr Bolton will take the job on 4 April.
He is the latest in a series of high-profile departures from the White House. He is the latest high-profile departure from the White House.
Last week, Mr Trump fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson via Twitter, replacing him with former CIA Director Mike Pompeo.Last week, Mr Trump fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson via Twitter, replacing him with former CIA Director Mike Pompeo.
Mr Bolton, 69, has advocated military force against Iran and North Korea. Mr Bolton will be Mr Trump's third national security adviser in the 14 months of the administration and is to take over next month.
He will be Mr Trump's third national security adviser in the 14 months of the administration and is to take over next month. Who is John Bolton?
Mr Bolton has served in the Republican administrations of Ronald Reagan, George HW Bush and George W Bush. Known for his walrus moustache, Mr Bolton, 69, has served in the administrations of Ronald Reagan, George HW Bush and George W Bush.
A leading advocate for the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, he has been a polarising figure in Washington. The second Bush appointed him as US envoy to the UN, during which time diplomats privately criticised Mr Bolton's style as abrasive.
He is praised by hard-line conservatives as a straight-talking foreign policy hawk. A strident neo-conservative, Mr Bolton helped build the case that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction, which turned out to be wrong.
At Yale University, where he studied law, he recalled in his memoir feeling like a "space alien" among the campus anti-Vietnam war activists. Mr Bolton does not appear to have moderated his views since his last spell in government. He stands by the invasion of Iraq and has called for the US to attack Iran and North Korea.
Mr Bolton - a hawk's hawk
Analysis by BBC North America reporter Anthony Zurcher
Earlier this month, Donald Trump tweeted: "I still have some people that I want to change". He wasn't kidding.
Since then chief economic adviser Gary Cohn, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, personal lawyer John Dowd and now National Security Adviser HR McMaster have headed to (or been shown) the exits.
One explanation is that the president feels more comfortable in his job - and more willing to challenge the advice given him by his closest aides.
He has chaffed against the perception that he is being "handled" by those around him, and is installing men who agree to action, instead of preaching caution.
When it comes to Iran, Mr Bolton and the president are on the same page. Coupled with Mr Tillerson's exit, the US is heading toward a much more confrontational relationship with the Islamic Republic.
In other ways, however, the former UN ambassador is an unusual choice.
Mr Trump frequently has called the Iraq war a colossal mistake - the same war that Mr Bolton enthusiastically promoted during his time in the George W Bush administration.
Candidate Trump regularly espoused non-interventionism. Mr Bolton is a hawk's hawk.
Now that hawk has a perch in the Oval Office.
Why is Trump replacing McMaster?
In a brief statement on Thursday, Gen McMaster thanked President Trump for appointing him and said he was applying to retire from the US Army this summer.
The 55-year-old is leaving after just over a year as national security adviser.
But White House reporter Tara McKelvey says he seems happy about his decision.
She says she saw Gen McMaster recently joking with colleagues in the West Wing, and he had already worked out his exit strategy.
Gen McMaster's character had reportedly rubbed members of the Trump administration the wrong way.
The president had referred to the army lieutenant general's briefings as "gruff and condescending", a source told CNN. He was also described as "aggressive" and prone to lecture.
Gen McMaster replaced Lt Gen Michael Flynn, who was fired after less than a month in the job for misleading the White House about his contacts with the Russian ambassador.