Trump picks Flynn replacement: report

by Olivia Beavers - 02/15/17 2:21 PM ET

President Trump has offered the job of national security adviser to retired Vice Adm. Robert Harward following Michael Flynn’s resignation earlier this week, according to reports.

It wasn’t immediately clear if Harward, who previously served as a Navy SEAL and as deputy commander of U.S. Central Command, had accepted the position, according to Reuters.

Trump was “a bit surprised when Harward responded by saying he needed a couple of days to think it over,” Foreign Policy‘s Thomas Ricks reported.

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Flynn resigned from his post Monday after reports that he misled White House officials about discussing sanctions on Russia with the country’s U.S. ambassador before Trump took office.

Trump had named retired Army Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, who previously served as Flynn’s chief of staff on the National Security Council, as his acting national security adviser.

Harward was among several people floated for the position, along with homeland security adviser Tom Bossert and retired Army Gen. David Petraeus, a former CIA director.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Tuesday that Trump asked for Flynn’s resignation after his trust in the adviser had “eroded.”

Still, Trump on Wednesday called Flynn a “wonderful man” and went after “fake media” for reporting on leaks leading up to Flynn’s resignation that the president called “criminal.”

Tags Robert Harward