H.R. McMaster: ‘I’m kind of used up with Donald Trump’

Former national security adviser H.R. McMaster said Monday that he would not serve in a hypothetical second Trump administration, noting his talents are “kind of used up” with former President Trump.

“No. I think, Anderson, I will work in any administration where I feel like I can make a difference, but I’m kind of used up with Donald Trump,” McMaster told CNN’s Anderson Cooper when asked in a Monday evening interview whether he would serve again if the former president were elected in November.

McMaster, who served in the White House from February 2017 to April 2018, said it was a “privilege” to serve in the Trump administration, but he painted a complex picture of his time with the former president and noted some of the difficulties he faced.

“The president is quite often very offensive, brash, says things that are outlandish,” McMaster said.

“But, you know, he’s an extremely disruptive person,” he added. “I saw it as my job, you know, not to try to constrain him, but to help him disrupt what needed to be disrupted.”

His comments come as many Republicans have pressed the GOP presidential nominee to focus more on policy rather than lob personal attacks against Vice President Harris, his Democratic rival.

McMaster joined the interview to discuss his new book, “At War with Ourselves: My Tour of Duty in the Trump White House,” which he said he hopes inspires people to work in government.

“One of the themes in ‘At War with Ourselves’ is, ‘Heck yeah we are at war with ourselves.’ That’s not only bad for our psyche, it’s bad for governance,” the former official said. “It’s bad for our country. And I hope that young people, if they read this book, will feel a call to serve.”

He noted the tone of the book doesn’t stress the difficulties of the job as much as the honor to serve, saying, “it was a privilege to serve in that job.”

The Hill/Decision Desk HQ also updated its election forecast Monday, shifting the races for the White House and both chambers of Congress in the direction of Harris and Democrats. Still, all three races will be close.

McMaster similarly suggested in the interview that he would not serve in an administration run by the vice president, noting their different policy outlooks.

“I don’t know if I would be effective there, either,” he said about a hypothetical Harris administration. “Based on, probably, my different points of view, and what is a sensible policy toward the Middle East, or really fill-in-the-blank, but anywhere I can make a difference.”

“It’s such a privilege to serve,” he added.

A Trump campaign spokesperson dismissed the remarks in a statement to The Hill, writing, “He shouldn’t flatter himself, nobody is asking for McMaster to serve in government in any capacity.”

Updated at 10:38 a.m.