--- title: McMaster: Military Will Have No Role in Election Transition description: Former National Security Adviser, retired Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, says the 'military will have no role' in a transition after the elections. canonical: https://time.com/5893810/mcmaster-military-role-transition-power/ author: Sanya Mansoor article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2020-09-27T16:21:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T09:15:25.371Z article:section: Politics og:title: McMaster: Military Will Have No Role in Election Transition og:description: President Donald Trump has refused to commit to a peaceful transition of power if he loses the presidential election og:url: https://time.com/5893810/mcmaster-military-role-transition-power/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf9aba8ad7ebd187e/698a12a086f68e6e766ef3c6/mcmaster.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: H. R. McMaster og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: McMaster: Military Will Have No Role in Election Transition twitter:description: President Donald Trump has refused to commit to a peaceful transition of power if he loses the presidential election twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf9aba8ad7ebd187e/698a12a086f68e6e766ef3c6/mcmaster.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Former National Security Advisor McMaster Says It's 'Irresponsible' to Discuss Military's Role in 2020 Election Transition > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Sanya Mansoor](https://time.com/author/sanya-mansoor/)  ## Sanya Mansoor Sep 27, 2020 4:21 PM UTC  Former U.S. National Security Advisor H. R. McMaster is pictured during the Munich Security Conference on Feb. 17, 2018 in Munich, Germany. Former U.S. National Security Advisor H. R. McMaster is pictured during the Munich Security Conference on Feb. 17, 2018 in Munich, Germany. Florian Gaertner—Photothek/Getty Images  by [Sanya Mansoor](https://time.com/author/sanya-mansoor/)  ## Sanya Mansoor Sep 27, 2020 4:21 PM UTC As President Donald Trump [refuses](https://time.com/5892945/law-enforcement-post-election-violence/) to commit to a peaceful transition of power if he loses the presidential election, the U.S. military will not be involved in any transfer of power or refusal to accept the results, says retired Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster. “The military will have no role in a transition. In fact, even talk about it—I think—is irresponsible,” McMaster, who served as Trump’s National Security Advisor from 2017 to 2018, said Sunday during an interview on NBC’s _Meet The Press._ > [](https://twitter.com/MeetThePress/status/1310212443067514880) “It shouldn’t even be a topic for discussion,” McMaster said, adding that the founders were “very concerned” about the “separation of powers” and the “line between military and politics.” Asked earlier this week whether he would promise to leave office peacefully regardless of the outcome, Trump said, “Well, we’re going to have to see what happens.” Trump has also previously raised the possibility of [invoking the Insurrection Act](https://time.com/5846649/insurrection-act-1807-donald-trump/), which would enable him to deploy military forces within the U.S., amid Black Lives Matter protests sweeping the country. Some senior Pentagon officials have already distanced themselves from endorsing the use of military during elections. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley [told Congress](https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/28/politics/milley-2020-election/index.html) in testimony released last month, that he does “not see the U.S. military as part of” the process of “carrying out elections, and for resolving disputes over the outcome of elections,” CNN reported. Republican and Democratic Congressional leaders, [including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell](https://twitter.com/senatemajldr/status/1309126971058794499), have dismissed any assertion that there will not be a peaceful transition of power. Republican Sen. Mitt Romney called Trump’s comments on a peaceful transition [“unthinkable and unacceptable.”](https://twitter.com/MittRomney/status/1308932877229477890?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1308932877229477890%7Ctwgr%5Eshare%5F3&ref%5Furl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxnews.com%2Fpolitics%2Fmitt-romney-peaceful-transfer-power-trump-belarus) This is not the first time McMaster has criticized Trump. McMaster has also [spoken out](https://time.com/5892948/trump-former-officials-speak-out/) against the President’s strategy of [withdrawing troops](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/h-r-mcmaster-battlegrounds-china-afghanistan-national-security-60-minutes-2020-09-20/) from Afghanistan as well as his reluctance to [hold Russia accountable](https://twitter.com/TheLeadCNN/status/1308519485985501185?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1308519485985501185%7Ctwgr%5Eshare%5F3&ref%5Furl=https%3A%2F%2Fthehill.com%2Fhomenews%2Fnews%2F517696-ex-trump-national-security-adviser-mcmaster-says-leaders-making-it-easy-for) for interfering in U.S. elections. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5893810/mcmaster-military-role-transition-power/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5893810/mcmaster-military-role-transition-power/"},"headline":"Former National Security Advisor McMaster Says It's 'Irresponsible' to Discuss Military's Role in 2020 Election Transition","datePublished":"2020-09-27T16:21:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T09:15:25.371Z","description":"President Donald Trump has refused to commit to a peaceful transition of power if he loses the presidential election","url":"https://time.com/5893810/mcmaster-military-role-transition-power/","keywords":["2020 Election","Brief"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf9aba8ad7ebd187e/698a12a086f68e6e766ef3c6/mcmaster.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sanya Mansoor","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sanya-mansoor/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf9aba8ad7ebd187e/698a12a086f68e6e766ef3c6/mcmaster.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"H. 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