Trump advisers at odds over president’s foreign policy

WASHINGTON – The direction of President Donald Trump’s foreign policy is at the centre of a battle between two of his top aides.

Conservative groups are targeting national security adviser H.R. McMaster. They argue that he’s insufficiently supportive of Israel and not tough enough on Iran. Those critics along with a website tied to Trump adviser Steve Bannon are pushing for McMaster to be ousted.

McMaster is one of several powerful generals in Trump’s orbit who hail from the Republican foreign policy establishment. But Trump is equally sympathetic to the views of firebrands like Bannon, who are trying to push the party in a new, isolationist direction embodied by his “America First” doctrine.

Administration officials and outside advisers tell The Associated Pres that McMaster and Bannon have clashed over Afghanistan war strategy.