The Atlantic

The Many Contradictions of White House Spin on Russia

H.R. McMaster said Trump didn’t know the source of the information he shared, but that sharing it was wholly appropriate—even as he said that leaks about the disclosure pose a danger to national security.
Source: Joshua Roberts / Reuters

Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster, President Trump’s national-security adviser, is the White House official with the greatest credibility, both within the press and in both political parties—a result of both his career and his perceived independence from a president whose trustworthiness is in tatters. But a short, sometimes tense briefing Tuesday showed how the current moment tugs McMaster in contradictory directions.

Nine times during the briefing, McMaster repeated the mantra that Trump’s actions in were “wholly

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