A source from the White House speaking on condition of anonymity confirmed that KT McFarland, the Deputy National Security Advisor, will soon be leaving her White House job.
KT McFarland, sixty-five, has worked as Trump’s advisor since he took office in January. The news of her resignation comes just three months into her advisory role. According to the source who spoke to Reuters on Sunday, McFarland will be leaving the White House to take on a role as the United States Ambassador to Singapore. The anonymous US official added that the title had not been officially handed over to KT McFarland as the president was awaiting approval from Singapore on the appointment. As such, the exact date of McFarland’s departure from the White House was not yet confirmed.
KT McFarland had been a former Fox News analyst before taking her place in the Trump administration. Her resignation, the source further commented, had not been an amiable one. McFarland had resisted but given in after a while, the official said. No reasons were given for her change in stance.
Change in Pace
The resignation of McFarland comes after a week of drastic foreign policy developments for the United States.In the last week, the nation has hosted the Chinese President Xi Jinping in a bid to enlist China’s help in dealing with its errant neighbor, North Korea. North Korea has been conducting ballistic missile tests against UN regulations. Additionally, the United States fired on a Syrian airbase alleged to have been the source of chemical weapons used on civilians.
Foreign policy aside, McFarland’s resignation also brings to the limelight the infighting said to be in President Trump’s administration. The media has for the past week highlighted the disagreements between Mr. Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and his former senior strategist Steve Bannon.The two ‘buried the hatchet’ on Saturday, but not before Bannon’s removal from the National Security Council (NSC).
The NSC is the council tasked with advising the president on security and foreign affairs.Bannon’s removal from the NSC and McFarland’s resignationare said to be at the urging of current national security advisorLt Gen HR McMaster. McMaster seems to be cleaning up the house by depoliticizing the team his predecessor had put together. Ridding the council of conservative members of the ‘principal team’serves that purpose. Making the Council smaller also distances the presidency from any blowback from McMaster’s predecessor’sassociation with the Russians. Lt Gen Michael Flynn, the man who held the national security advisory role before McMaster, resigned in mid-February due to allegations that cast suspicion on his relationship with the Russian Ambassador to the US, Sergey Kislyak.
Should McFarland leave for Singapore, speculation is that she will extradite the promotion of Dina Powell, the national security advisor for strategy. Powell, who worked in an advisory capacity in George W Bush’s administration, is one of the people who aided Ivanka Trump’s transition after the election of her father into office. Powell has also worked at Goldman Sachs in the past concentrating on the areas of entrepreneurship, small businesses, and feminism.
