Trump ousts McMaster, taps super-hawk Bolton as national security adviser

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Oxon Hill, Maryland, U.S. February 24, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

Thomson Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday picked as his new national security adviser John Bolton, a hawk who has advocated using military force against Iran and North Korea and has taken a hard line against Russia.

Trump announced in a tweet he was ousting H.R. McMaster, his current national security adviser. Bolton, 69, who has long been a polarizing figure in Washington foreign policy circles, becomes Trump's third national security adviser in 14 months.

(Reporting by Warren Strobel and Steve Holland; Additional reporting by Yara Bayoumy and David Brunnstrom; Editing by Alistair Bell)

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