Candidate Kathleen Troia "KT" McFarland debates against John Spencer for the republican Senate nomination, on the campus of Pace University in New York on Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2006. Associated Press/Angel Chevrestt

PALM BEACH, Fla. (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s deputy national security adviser, K.T.McFarland, is expected to step down and has been offered the position of U.S. ambassador to Singapore, a U.S. official said on Sunday.

The move comes as Trump's national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, retools the national security team he inherited from retired General Michael Flynn, who resigned as Trump's first national security adviser in February.

The 65-year-old McFarland is a former national security analyst for Fox News and was one of Trump's original hires after he was elected president on Nov. 8.

News of her pending departure came less than a week after Trump removed his chief strategist, Steve Bannon, from a seat on the National Security Council at the urging of McMaster.

Flynn was forced to resign on Feb. 13 over his contacts with Russia's ambassador to the United States, Sergei Kislyak, prior to Trump taking office on Jan. 20.

(Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by James Dalgleish)