Trump defends McMaster from far-right snipers

United States President Donald Trump has come to the defence of his National Security Advisor, H.R. McMaster, in the wake of a sustained attack on the army general from the far-right.

The President, in a statement on Friday, described McMaster as a "good man", and said they were "working very well together".

"General McMaster and I are working very well together. He is a good man and very pro-Israel. I am grateful for the work he continues to do serving our country," the statement said.

Few stories of a news website had described McMaster as "increasingly volatile" and said he "frequent blows his top". A certain story's headline said he was "deeply hostile to Israel and to Trump".

Trump's son-in-law and senior advisor Jared Kushner, who has been often portrayed as a rival to McMaster, also lent his support, telling the New York Times the latter was "a true public servant and a tremendous asset".

The anti-McMaster campaign reportedly was ignited by the firing of three White House officials - Ezra Cohen-Watnick, the national security council (NSC) senior director for intelligence programmes; Derek Harvey, the NSC senior director for the Middle East; and Rich Higgins, the director for strategic planning - known to be allies of McMaster's predecessor as national security advisor, retired general Michael Flynn.