NATIONAL SECURITY

deputy said to be on way out.

WASHINGTON — Another top National Security Council staff member is leaving the White House as new national security adviser John Bolton makes his mark.

Deputy national security adviser Ricky Waddell will be exiting the administration, said two administration officials with knowledge of the decision who were not authorized to speak publicly.

Waddell’s departure date has not yet been determined. His departure was widely expected as Bolton works to build his own team.

A number of high-level staff members have chosen to leave or have been pushed out since Bolton’s appointment. Waddell’s exit follows Nadia Schadlow, deputy national security adviser for strategy, as well as council spokesman Michael Anton and homeland security adviser Tom Bossert.

White House officials said Waddell was well-liked inside the White House and would stay on for several weeks during the transition. Bolton has not finalized a decision for the replacement, these people said.

Bolton’s strategy has proved markedly different than that of Larry Kudlow, the national economic adviser, who has offered to keep all of former economic adviser Gary Cohn’s team and has made few waves at the national economic council.

Waddell often played an integral role inside the building, preparing national security briefings for the president, organizing meetings and traveling with Trump.

Waddell, for instance, told Trump after a recent rally about the deaths of U.S. troops in Syria. The president said at the rally that he wanted to pull troops out of Syria. One former senior administration official called him a “steady hand and a workhorse.” But he was not known to have a particularly close relationship with Trump.

Bolton has said he wants his own team in place ahead of a busy two-month stretch, in which the administration must decide whether to recertify the Iran nuclear deal, and Trump is expected to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Bolton has been skeptical of that meeting and has frequently criticized the Iran deal, which Trump has told allies he wants to shred.

Waddell