Trump backs McMaster

President Trump gave H.R. McMaster a vote of confidence after the national security adviser's rivals seized on a letter McMaster sent to his Obama predecessor Susan Rice giving her continued access to classified information.

McMaster's letter, which his supporters said was routine, was apparently leaked to imply that the Army lieutenant general was helping Trump's enemies. McMaster's feud with other powerful camps inside the White House has been well-documented, and a recent spate of firings by McMaster appears to have ratcheted up tensions. But Trump issued a statement late Friday supporting McMaster.

"General McMaster and I are working very well together," the statement read. "He is a good man and very pro-Israel. I am grateful for the work he continues to do serving our country."

McMaster already had been in the spotlight for the series of firings he’s ordered on the National Security Council. Most recently, he ousted Ezra Cohen-Watnick, the senior director for intelligence at the National Security Council who had been viewed as a Trump loyalist.

More