Robert Harward (right) attends a joint military exercise at the King Abdullah Special Operations Training Centre in Jordan on May 27, 2012. | Getty Trump has offered Harward the job as Flynn's replacement

President Donald Trump has asked retired Vice Admiral Robert Harward to succeed Michael Flynn as his national security adviser, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

The embattled former national security adviser tendered his resignation late Monday after admitting to misleading Vice President Mike Pence and other administration officials on the contents of a call with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. during the transition.


Trump had tapped retired Lt. General Keith Kellogg to replace Flynn in the interim until the administration vetted candidates and named a permanent replacement. Despite his record, Kellogg was seen by many as simply a placeholder.

“The president is currently evaluating a group of very strong candidates that will be considered to fill the national security adviser position permanently and is confident in the ability of General Kellogg, a decorated and distinguished veteran of the United States Army, until that person is ultimately chosen,” White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters Tuesday.

POLITICO reported Tuesday that Harward was the favorite to succeed Flynn, in whom Trump lost trust and asked to resign.

Spicer on Wednesday afternoon declined to confirm that Harward had been offered the job, telling reporters that "I will have an update at some point."

Harward was a former deputy commander of U.S. Central Command under current Defense Secretary James Mattis. He served as the National Security Council’s director of strategy and defense issues during President George W. Bush’s administration before he was assigned to the National Counterterrorism Center in 2005.

