Deputy national security adviser KT McFarland asked to step down
US Deputy National Security Adviser KT McFarland has been asked to step down by the Trump administration after just three months. McFarland has reportedly been offered the role of US ambassador to Singapore. The move is seen as an attempt by Trump's recently appointed NSA Lt Gen HR McMaster to reorganize the National Security Council team set up by his predecessor Lt Gen Flynn.
Who is KT McFarland?
Kathleen Troia (KT) McFarland, 65, was a staff member in the NSC during the 1970s and worked in the Defence Department during the 80s. In 2006, she ran unsuccessfully for the Republican Party Senate nomination in New York. She then became a Fox News commentator.
Trump's new NSA shakes things up in NSC
McFarland's removal comes days after Trump's chief strategist Steve Bannon was removed from the National Security Council (NSC) whose appointment in January had raised concerns that the NSC was being politicized. McMaster was appointed NSA after his predecessor Flynn was fired in February for allegedly misleading Vice-President Mike Pence over his communications with the Russian ambassador to America.
Trump's White House plagued with personnel changes
Besides, Flynn, McFarland and Bannon, Katie Walsh, the White House's first deputy chief of staff was also reassigned. This follows reports of infighting between rival camps led by Bannon and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, with each side trying to influence the President's agenda.
