Trump offers high-profile national security advisor job to Flynn

United States (U.S.) president-elect Donald Trump has reportedly offered the role of national security advisor to Army retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn; however, it was not immediately clear whether Flynn accepted.

Flynn, 57, who was a top adviser and high-profile surrogate to Trump during his campaign, enjoys tremendous access and credibility with Trump, especially because he's had several tours of duty on the battlefield.

He has, however, a long history of controversial remarks and was fired as President Barack Obama's director of the Defence Intelligence Agency in 2014, reports the CNN.

In his 2016 book 'The Field of Fight', Flynn wrote that he was booted from Obama's administration by "censors", who were unhappy that he'd told a congressional committee "that we were not as safe as we had been a few years back". However, U.S. officials said Flynn was pushed out because of his contentious management style.

Flynn's Twitter feed - regularly updated with pro-Trump comments - is another source of potential scrutiny. Flynn apologised in July after retweeting a message that bashed Jewish people.

The retweet came after Hillary Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook said on CNN that Russia was to blame for hacks of the Democratic National Committee.

Flynn later apologised, saying he'd only meant to retweet Mook's remarks.

First created in the early days of the Cold War, the job of national security advisor is seen as critical to implementing a President's worldview on the various departments and agencies involved in national security.

Famous national security advisers who made a major impact on American foreign policy have included Henry Kissinger, Zbigniew Brzezinski and Brent Scowcroft. Susan Rice is the current national security advisor.