National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster ridiculed President Donald Trump during a private dinner with the CEO of Oracle, Buzzfeed News reported Monday.
According to four sources who overheard the conversations, McMaster confided to CEO Safra Catz that his boss was both an “idiot” and a dope,” adding that Trump with the smarts of a “kindergartner.”
A separate source also claimed McMaster disparaged Trump in a private conversation, saying he didn’t have the intellectual firepower to understand national security issues, according to BuzzFeed.
Spokespersons for both the National Security Council and Oracle deny the claims, with NSC spokesman Michael Anton issuing a statement saying, “Actual participants in the dinner deny that General McMaster made any of the comments attributed to him by anonymous sources. Those false comments represent the diametric opposite of General McMaster’s actual views.”
McMaster’s critical comments would not be the first delivered in private by a Trump cabinet member.
This is not the first time a White House top official questions Donald Trump’s intellect and his fitness to serve as president.
In October, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson reportedly called Trump a “moron” and considered quitting over the president’s “irresponsible behavior.”
