H.R. McMaster on Trump: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Honestly with Bari Weiss

The Free Press

News, Society & Culture

4.6 • 7.8K Ratings

🗓️ 16 January 2025

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Very few people have worked closely with President-elect Donald Trump, gotten fired, and walked away with a pretty balanced view of him. But former national security adviser to Trump, Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster is an exception. In his book At War with Ourselves: My Tour of Duty in the Trump White House, he gives an honest account of working in Trump’s first administration: the good, the bad, and the unexpected. Last week, McMaster sat down with Michael Moynihan at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia for an in-person Free Press Book Club event to discuss it all. They talk about his moments of tension with Trump, his understanding of Trump’s foreign policy, and how Trump’s rhetoric toward adversaries was actually good, despite being villainized by the press. And also, as McMaster puts it, Trump can be “so disruptive, he often interrupts his own agenda.” They also get into the president-elect’s current cabinet picks—ones who McMaster sees as good, like Marco Rubio and Mike Waltz, but how good picks do not ensure a harmonious administration. They discuss Trump’s options for handling Russia, Iran, and Hamas in his second term, and why McMaster is surprisingly and cautiously optimistic about Trump 2.0. If you liked what you heard from Honestly, the best way to support us is to go to TheFP.com and become a Free Press subscriber today. The Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit research institute in Washington, D.C. FDD’s experts conduct in-depth research, produce accurate and timely analyses, identify illicit activities, and provide policy options—all with the aim of strengthening U.S. national security and reducing or eliminating threats posed by enemies of the United States and other free nations. Learn more at FDD.org. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	From the free press, this is honestly, and I'm Barry Weiss.
0:04.0	Very few people have worked closely with Donald Trump, gotten fired, and walked away with a pretty balanced view of him.
0:10.6	But former national security advisor, Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster is an exception.
0:16.3	In his book, At War With Ourselves, My Tour of Duty in the Trump White House, he gives an honest
0:22.1	account of working in Trump's first administration, the good, the bad, and the very unexpected.
0:28.4	Last week, General McMaster sat down with my colleague Michael Moynihan at the National Constitution
0:34.2	Center in Philadelphia for a live free press book club event to discuss it all.
0:39.3	They talk about his tensions with Trump, his understanding of Trump's worldview, particularly his foreign policy,
0:45.1	and how Trump's rhetoric towards adversaries was actually good, despite being villainized by the press.
0:51.0	And how, as General McMaster puts it, Trump can be so disruptive, he often interrupts
0:56.5	his own agenda. They talk about what to expect a few days from now when Trump takes office.
1:02.7	Trump's current cabinet picks, the ones who HR sees is good and the ones who sees as less good.
1:07.6	They talk about Trump's options for handling Russia, China, and Iran, and why HR is
1:12.4	cautiously and surprisingly optimistic about Trump 2.0. Just a quick note to say that the
1:18.3	Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, which is chaired
1:23.4	by McMaster, is the sponsor of this episode. Stay with us.
1:33.8	Thank you. by McMaster is the sponsor of this episode. Stay with us. This episode is brought to you by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. FDD is a nonpartisan
1:40.1	research institute dedicated to advancing U.S. foreign policy and national security.
1:46.1	Founded in the wake of the 9-11 attacks by Cliff May, FDD has become a powerhouse for shaping
1:51.9	some of America's most critical foreign policy debates. Their mission? To expose and confront
1:57.6	authoritarian regimes, terror networks, and nuclear threats.
2:02.2	Their work is so effective that both the organization and its individual experts
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