US Politics in Trump era
Trump’s security chief shaped by tough posting near Syria
HR McMaster has shown himself to be an accomplished military strategist and an adept White House infighter. People close to McMaster say that an early priority for the three-star general was to marginalise Bannon and re-empower the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and director of national intelligence, whose places on the principals’ committee of the national security council Bannon had taken. At a stroke, McMaster accomplished that this week, establishing his supremacy over the homeland security and economic councils for good measure, and cementing his alliances with joint chiefs chairman General Joe Dunford and intelligence chief Dan Coats.
Questions mount over botched Yemen raid approved by Trump
US military officials say Trump approved counter terrorism operation without sufficient intelligence or ground support. The US military has launched an investigation into the scale of civilian casualties in a botched special forces raid against a suspected al-Qaida base in Yemen, the first such mission to be approved by Donald Trump, as questions mount over the operation.