WASHINGTON — A new book by one of Donald Trump's former White House national security advisers portrays the Republican presidential nominee as an insecure figure whose need for flattery and approval made him an easy target for foreign adversaries. made who are bent on weakening America.
With his book, HR McMaster is the latest in a long line of Trump administration officials to write a behind-the-scenes account, a literary genre that has flourished amid Trump's relentless grip on American politics. .
After serving 13 months in Trump's employ before his ouster in 2018, McMaster has written a book that is neither biographical nor downright dismissive. He credits Trump with developing a strategy to fight terrorism and acknowledges that the United States needs to take on a rising China more aggressively.
And he accused some of his old colleagues — notably former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and former Defense Secretary James Mattis — of failing to stabilize a new president who came from the worlds of show business and real estate and had never He did not hold public office.
But McMaster doesn't entirely acquit himself of the story either.
“I was able to reduce rather than control tensions with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary James Mattis, who preferred policy control over cooperation,” he writes.
Tillerson and Mattis simply lacked confidence. They also lacked confidence in a president who they saw as impulsive, erratic, and dangerous to the republic,” McMaster continues.
“Regrettably, we all underestimated each other's efforts and ability to make the most of our opportunity to help Trump make decisions, stick to those decisions, and act in the best interest of the American people. “
The Mets' office declined to comment on McMaster's account. A spokesman for Tillerson could not be reached for comment.
The book – “At War with Ourselves” – will be released on Tuesday. NBC News obtained an advance copy.
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement that the book is “riddled with false stories designed to sell copies of a book that is meant to be in the bargain bin of the fiction section.”
“HR had a very difficult job when he was in the White House, but he served the nation with honor,” John Kelly, one of Trump's White House chiefs of staff, told NBC News on Monday.
McMaster offers fresh grip for voters looking for insight into how Trump has governed in the past and might do so again if he wins a second term in November.
The book portrays Trump as a flawed figure who not only presided over a dysfunctional White House staff, but played a role in fueling the dysfunction.
“The president, always a game of gossip, intrigue and infighting, often asked leading questions about whether I could criticize Tillerson or Mattis,” he writes. “I never did.”
McMaster, a retired Army lieutenant general, was the second of Trump's four national security advisers. He is also a historian who wrote the famous book “Dereliction of Duty” about former President Lyndon Johnson's disastrous escalation of the Vietnam War in the 1960s.
Johnson's book came out during McMaster's job interview at Trump's Florida residence, Mar-a-Lago. He told Trump that one of the mistakes of the Vietnam War was that LBJ's advisers only told him what he wanted to hear.
He told Trump that a better approach was for the president to “get the best analysis and multiple options so he can make informed decisions.”
“Trump seemed pleased with the response,” McMaster writes.
Yet this is not the decision-making model that Trump has used.
“I was learning that Trump was open to new ideas and perspectives, but also prone to changing his mind based on who had the last word in his ear,” he writes.
McMaster finds similarities between the two presidents he has studied. As was the case with Johnson, Trump's “insecurity and desire for attention made him perpetually nervous and vulnerable to a mainstream media that was bitterly hostile to him. Also, like LBJ, his There was a loose relationship with truth and a tendency towards hyperbole.
McMaster gave an example that involved – what else? – Crowd size.
Shortly after taking office, he walked with Trump from the West Wing to the White House residence. Trump paused and pointed to a photo of a crowd on the National Mall on his inauguration day.
“Look at him, General,” Trump said, according to McMaster. “Contrary to what you see in the fake media, there were more people at my inauguration than Obama.”
News accounts indicated otherwise.
A long-standing curiosity of the Trump era is why he wants to be on good terms with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In the book, McMaster said he was under no illusion that Putin wanted to be Trump's friend. Rather, Putin sized up Trump as someone hungry for praise.
“Putin, a ruthless former KGB operative, flattered Trump for his ego and insecurities,” the book says. What was, and Trump from that point of view revealed his vulnerability, his commitment to the powerful, and his belief that he alone could build a good relationship with Putin.”
Before a July 2017 meeting with Putin in Germany, McMaster advised Trump not to fall for Putin's claims about Ukraine, North Korea and other issues. But the subsequent meeting made it clear that “Putin used his time with Trump to launch a sophisticated and sustained campaign to manipulate him.”
During his conversation with Trump, Putin showed him a video of the Russian Navy's rescue of a World War II-era U.S. ship, which evoked fond memories of the U.S.-Soviet alliance during the war.
At a later dinner, Putin gave Trump, a onetime real estate mogul, a list of ideas for cooperation, including the development of an amusement park near Moscow, McMaster writes.
McMaster said he tried to warn Trump in advance that Putin could not be trusted to follow through on his promises, but acknowledged that “Trump is getting uncomfortable with my 'negative feelings.'
Age has emerged as a major issue in the 2024 presidential race. Now that President Joe Biden, 81, has dropped his candidacy, Trump is the oldest presidential candidate in history, at 78. A question that ultimately sank Biden's campaign and now dogs Trump is whether someone of that age is up to the rigors of the presidency. .
McMaster writes that Trump's “disorders” grew during his 2017 trip to the Middle East and Italy.
Riding in his limousine in Italy, “he was tired and angry,” McMaster writes. “He turned to Jared. [Kushner, a senior White House aide and Trump’s son-in-law] And I stayed far behind and said, 'How long is this journey? Whose ideas were these?''
Staff turnover in the Trump White House was high. Senior advisers have come and gone because of burnout, disobedience to the rules or Trump.
“I can't help but think that living at the base of an active volcano was an apt metaphor for serving in the Trump White House,” McMaster writes.
He also wrote that he was fed up with unnecessary friction and drama in the White House and with hard-line colleagues in the Defense and State departments. I had lost patience with Tillerson and Trump. I had to either go or redouble my efforts. To persevere and to pray for peace, accept the things I cannot change and focus on what I can.”
The day Trump called to say it was over, McMaster wasn't all that surprised.
“With Donald Trump, most people get used to it, and my time has come,” he writes.