Trump Appoints Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn as National Security Adviser

: Report

By Chris Sommerfeldt

November 17, 2016 “Information Clearing House” – “NYDaily News” –  President-elect Donald Trump has tapped retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn to become his national security adviser, a source with knowledge of the matter has revealed.

The source told NBC Wednesday evening that Trump had settled on Flynn, who was also being considered for the secretary of defense post.

The Daily News could not independently confirm the report, and the Trump campaign did not immediately return a request for comment.

Earlier in the evening, Trump spokesman Jason Miller said the President-elect had met with Flynn and added he would make a “fantastic addition” to the team.

“He has been a companion on the campaign trail quite a bit as we’ve seen over the past few months,” Miller told Fox News’ Megyn Kelly.

Flynn, 57, was appointed Defense Intelligence Agency director in 2012, but had his tenure cut short in 2014 after an apparent falling out with top Obama administration officials.

Much aligned with Trump’s campaign rhetoric, Flynn claims in a recently published book that the U.S. is losing a “world war” against radical Islam because of “political correctness.” In the book, he also claims without proof that American Islamists are attempting to create “an Islamic state right here at home” by pushing to implement “legal standing for Sharia.”

The retired three star general has also suggested he might be on board with killing relatives of suspected terrorists and once tweeted, “Fear of Muslims is RATIONAL.”

Like Trump, Flynn sees a military ally in controversial Russian President Vladimir Putin, who he was seated next to at a banquet in Moscow last year. Flynn has also appeared several times on the state-owned TV station, Russia Today, which the U.S. State Department has accused of being a mouthpiece for Putin.

Flynn officially threw his support behind Trump when he made a fiery speech at the Republican convention in July. During the speech, Flynn accused President Obama and Hillary Clinton of betraying the core principles of the United States and even led the convention crowd in chants of “Lock her up!”

Flynn’s convention appearance puzzled many generals he had served with, as it broke their unofficial code of not picking sides in presidential races.

Flynn gained further notoriety when he retweeted an anti-Semitic tweet that said, “Not anymore, Jews. Not anymore.” He later apologized for the retweet, claiming it was a “mistake.”

The appointment of Flynn comes as the Trump transition team is experiencing several shakeups.

Mike Rogers, the team’s national security adviser, resigned from his position on Tuesday. Rogers’ resignation in turn came just hours after embattled New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was demoted from running the transition team.

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