General McMaster and tensions with Donald Trump

McMaster could leave White House after months of tension with Trump ~ CNN Dan Merica, Jim Acosta, Kaitlan Collins

General H.R. McMaster

(MaineWriter ~ As an American citizen, I send to General McMaster my appreciation for giving Steve Bannon the boot,kicked him off of the National Security Council.)

Washington (CNN) ~ With tensions flaring between President Donald Trump and national security adviser Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, the Pentagon is considering options that would allow the President to potentially move the three-star general out of his current role and back into the military, according to half a dozen defense and administration officials.

A search is quietly being conducted by the Pentagon to see if there is a four-star military job suited for McMaster, these officials said.
Several sources told CNN that the push for a replacement comes after months of personal tension between McMaster and Trump. The task of easing McMaster out of his role as national security adviser presents a unique challenge for the White House.

While administration officials have privately said the preference is to move McMaster into a position within the Army or Defense Department that qualifies as a promotion, some within the Pentagon feel he has become politicized in the White House and have expressed reservations about him returning to the military in a prominent role. Some defense officials caution that the President could also go as far as not to offer him a fourth star and force him to retire.

This is not the first time McMaster has faced speculation that his job may be in jeopardy and sources with knowledge of McMaster's standing in the White House have repeatedly said that he has been on thin ice for months.

There was discussion in the West Wing about replacing him last fall, but he ultimately survived because officials, including the President himself, were skeptical about the optics of appointing a third national security adviser in less than a year, several sources told CNN. Trump's first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, resigned amid controversy over his contact with Russian officials within a month of taking the job.

The decision was also driven by the White House's challenge attracting top talent for jobs in the administration due to Trump's "blacklist" of individuals who have criticized the President, his personality and the Russia investigation, according to a senior Republican source.

However, those familiar with the President's thinking don't believe McMaster's job is any safer now. "He is safe until he's not," the senior Republican with knowledge of the White House added.
On Thursday, the Pentagon referred all questions about McMaster's future to the White House.

"General McMaster works for President Trump. Any decision with regards to staff, the White House will make those determinations," chief spokesperson Dana White said.

The White House did not respond to CNN's request for comment. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Tuesday that Trump "still has confidence in General McMaster."

Tension with TrumpTensions between Trump and McMaster have been playing out for months and were on full display this weekend after Trump (stupid Donald Trump!) publicly chided him over remarks he made regarding Russian interference in the election.

"General McMaster forgot to say that the results of the 2016 election were not impacted or changed by the Russians and that the only Collusion was between Russia and Crooked H, the DNC and the Dems," Trump tweeted. "Remember the Dirty Dossier, Uranium, Speeches, Emails and the Podesta Company!"
The criticism laid bare the strained relationship between the two men and left some wondering how much longer McMaster has left in the administration.

For months, Trump has privately expressed irritation with McMaster stemming from differences in "personality and style," the senior Republican source said.

The two have never gotten along, and Trump continues to chafe at McMaster's demeanor when he briefs him, feeling that he is gruff and condescending, according to a source who is familiar with his thinking.

He prefers the briefing style of someone like CIA Director Mike Pompeo or Defense Secretary James Mattis, who patiently answer his questions, regardless of the premise.

McMaster, meanwhile, is the person who delivers the news that Trump doesn't want to hear on a daily basis, according to the senior Republican source.

The issue is not political but mostly stylistic, as McMaster and Mattis tend to discuss information before it is presented to the President, the same source added.

CNN previously reported that McMaster has been at odds with the President and other cabinet officials over the last year.
He has also been undercut by others in Trump's orbit like former chief strategist Steve Bannon, according to congressional and administration officials.

A source familiar with the situation said Trump's perception of McMaster is still influenced by the legacy of Bannon who maintained a tense relationship with McMaster after McMaster removed him from the National Security Council.
"He paid McMaster back by spreading rumors and whispering in Trump's ear," the senior Republican source said, adding that "Bannon poisoned the well."

What's next for McMaster?Officials could not yet confirm what job McMaster might be nominated for if he were to leave the White House.

The current commander of US forces in South Korea, General Vincent Brooks, is expected to leave his post on a scheduled rotation in the coming months but his successor has already been earmarked within the Army but not yet made public, several officials said.

Another possible option would be to name McMaster as the replacement for Gen. John Nicholson who has served as commander of the coalition in Afghanistan since 2016.

Some officials have told CNN that the Pentagon may be looking to identify a slot that is not too high profile, because McMaster would be transitioning back to the military from a White House position akin to a political appointee.

If moved back into a military role that involves testifying before Congress, McMaster might be viewed as simply supporting the White House rather than providing lawmakers with his best military advice, one defense official said.

Lawmakers on the Senate Armed Services Committee would likely have questions about McMaster's time in the White House should he be nominated for a military role but an aide to one senior Republican member told CNN that there do not appear to be any obvious red flags at the outset that would inherently prevent his confirmation.

A second defense official said McMaster is well aware of those political sensitivities.

However, one top Pentagon official said McMaster's role in the administration should not prevent him from earning his fourth star, comparing his transition to other military officers like Colin Powell who have gone back and forth between the Pentagon and the White House.

McMaster would also have the option of retiring from active duty at any time if he chose to do so.

But officials told CNN that the White House's wish is to find McMaster a four-star job that is seen as acknowledging his service.

Bankruptcy, corruption and fraud - Donald Trump and Chris Christie legacy

So, let me get this right. 

Suppose Donald Trump and Chris Christie are (gulp!) going to be on the same Republican ballot in 2016, as running mates. This might change the acronym for the GOP to "BCF". 

In other words, the Grand Old Party of Abraham Lincoln would change to the Bankruptcy, Corruption and Fraud party of Donald Trump. 

This is a tragic turn for Republicans, the party that supported Abraham Lincoln when he signed the Emancipation Proclamation. There's a myth about President Lincoln dating to his days as a clerk Springfield, IL, about tracking down a customer to refund some money. “Abraham Lincoln in Two Miles a Penny” refers to the legendary account of the 16th president of the United States walking six miles to return a three-cent overcharge to a customer.

Ha!  Contrast, Donald Trump flew nearly two thousand miles to sell real estate in Scotland after the British "Brexit" vote tumbled the international stock exchanges and nearly everybody lost money.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has been affiliated with corruption since the horrific "bridgegate" scandal when some people on his paid staff were accused to closing the Fort Lee exit to the George Washington Bridge because the city's mayor didn't support Christie's gubernatorial campaign. Now, it turns out, one of the lead defendants in the case accepted a guilty plea bargain in exchange for not being asked to give evidence against other people. 

"If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it must be a duck." 

I suppose Governor Christie will simply commute Former Port Authority Chairman David Samson's prison sentence, to return the favor.  It's called "Quid pro quo".

Here's what Secretary Clinton said about Donald Trump and Governor Christie in Atlantic City, New Jersey:

Atlantic City, New Jersey- a city of empty buildings where people lost jobs & businesses because Donald Trump declared bankruptcy

Atlantic City, New Jersey (CNN) - by Dan Merica

Hillary Clinton used the backdrop of Atlantic City, New Jersey, on Wednesday to slam Donald Trump and one of his most high-profile surrogates, the state's governor, Chris Christie.

"If your governor will start doing his job instead of following Donald Trump around, holding his coat, maybe we could really get New Jersey's economy moving again," Clinton said to cheers from the crowd.

Clinton is spending time in the city where Trump developed casinos in an effort to highlight what her aides are calling Trump's "fraudulent business history."

She hit Trump for "multiple bankruptcies, stiffing contractors and spurring hundreds of job losses" during his time owning casinos in Atlantic City.

Clinton appeared in front of Boardwalk Hall, the city's old convention center, and was introduced by a small business owner who the aide said was hurt by Trump's business practices.

Clinton and her aides are looking to move past an FBI press conference that recommended she not face charges in her exclusive use of a private email server, but also raised serious questions about her judgment. The presser by FBI director James Comey rocked Clinton's Brooklyn headquarters, making it even more important in the eyes of Clinton's top aides to undercut Trump's credibility.

Trump wasn't letting the spotlight disappear off the FBI press conference Wednesday morning.

"Crooked Hillary Clinton lied to the FBI and to the people of our country. She is sooooo guilty. But watch, her time will come!" the real estate mogul tweeted.

He also sent a pair of tweets criticizing Clinton and blaming Democrats for making "all the wrong moves" to destroy the city.
"I made a lot of money in Atlantic City and left 7 years ago, great timing (as all know). Pols made big mistakes, now many bankruptcies," Trump tweeted.

Clinton, since pivoting to Trump, has attempted to undercut that business record, something that has animated much of his unexpectedly strong presidential run.

"How can anybody lose money running a casino? Really," Clinton jokingly asked an audience in Detroit last month. (#no_seriously!)

She added, "Trump economics is a recipe for lower wages, fewer jobs, more debt. He could bankrupt America like he's bankrupted his companies."

Trump has filed four business bankruptcies in the last 30 years, all of which surrounded his casino holdings in Atlantic City.

Trump filed for bankruptcy on the Taj Mahal in 1991 and the Trump Castle Associates in 1992. 

He later filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Trump Hotel & Casino Resorts in 2004 and Trump Entertainment Resorts in 2009.
Trump has defended the bankruptcies by noting that he never personally went bankrupt. (OMG, but nearly everybody who did business with him did so!)

"I have used the laws of this country ... the (bankruptcy) chapter laws, to do a great job for my company, for myself, for my employees, for my family," he said last year.

But the bankruptcies have hurt Atlantic City, a city that is now blighted with empty hulking buildings, unemployment substantially higher than the national average, and a high violent crime rate.
The Clinton campaign blamed Trump for the problems plaguing the city.

In addition to Wednesday's event, the Clinton campaign released a video that documents "Trump's fraudulent pattern in Atlantic City of making millions for himself while defrauding people of millions that he owed them."

The video, while not featuring Trump's voice once, uses people stiffed by Trump in Atlantic City to make the case that the city "proves" he shouldn't be president.

So, let me repeat. Trump throws around ugly labels the way Orangutans love to eat nasty tasting Durian fruit. But he can't take the truth when it's thrown back at him.  Trump uses stupid and simplistic words like "bad" or "crooked" because many of his followers are uneducated people who do not read. Yet, the facts are clear enough.Trump filed for multiple corporate bankruptcies, he and Christie have been implicated in corruption and unethical conduct. Trump has been sued for fraud by customers of his bogus "Trump University".  He's an evil man and Democrats had better calling him for what he is- racism isn't deep or "bad" enough. 

When Trump acts like Adolf Hitler, when he euphemistically (yes, it's a big word, I know) calls for "America to be white again"), and praises "Saddam Hussein" for the way he slaughtered people, then it must give all Americans pause, because it shows me he is evil. 

In fact, Donald Trump has changed the GOP party into an evil BCF political movement, in my opinion.