Trump offers national security adviser post to Flynn: Reports

WASHINGTON - Agence France-Presse

President-elect Donald Trump has offered the influential post of national security adviser to his controversial campaign adviser, former general Michael Flynn, U.S. media reported Trump officials as saying on Nov. 17.

Highly respected as a decorated military intelligence officer helping combat insurgent networks in Afghanistan and Iraq, Flynn, 57, later generated widespread criticism for his strident backing of the Republican’s campaign.

He served as Trump’s leading adviser on national security issues during the campaign and was a highly visible surrogate, with a hardline stance on radical Islam.

It was not immediately clear whether Flynn had accepted the offer to become what many believe to be the country’s top national security official.

Flynn had previously said the U.S. should not provide a safe haven for the U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, who the Turkish government accuses of orchestrating the failed July 15 coup attempt.

“The forces of radical Islam derive their ideology from radical clerics like Gülen, who is running a scam. We should not provide him safe haven,” Flynn wrote for the Hill newspaper in a piece on Nov. 8.

Trump also chose Jeff Sessions, a conservative senator who was one of his early backers in the race for the White House, to be attorney general, U.S. media reported on Nov. 18.

And U.S. Representative Mike Pompeo has been selected to be CIA director, news outlets said.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe became the first world leader to meet Trump on Nov. 17, seeking reassurances over the future of U.S.-Japan security and trade relations. 

Abe described Trump that he was confident Trump was a “trustworthy leader.”