The White House is preparing to replace National Security Adivser H.R. McMaster as early as next month, NBC News reported Thursday, citing five unnamed people familiar with the discussions.
The move, according to NBC News, has been orchestrated by White House chief of staff John Kelly and Defense Secretary James Mattis.
CNN reported last week, citing a half dozen unnamed administration and defense officials, that McMaster was considering options to return to the military.
McMaster became national security adviser after Michael Flynn’s ouster. Flynn was pushed out after reports revealed that he had spoken with Russia’s ambassador to the United States about sanctions before Trump took office and lied about the conversations to other senior administration officials. Since then, Flynn has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about those conversations, and he is cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe.
This post has been updated.
