White House spokesman Sean Spicer says that Trump will interview his acting adviser, retired Army Lt Gen Keith Kellogg; a former US ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton; Army Lt Gen H R McMaster; and the superintendent of the US Military Academy at West Point, Lt Gen Robert Caslen.
Trump, who is spending the weekend at his private Palm Beach club, could potentially talk to a few others, Spicer said yesterday.
Trump is also planning to talk with several foreign leaders today, and will have a health care strategy meeting.
Trump is working to replace ousted national security adviser Michael Flynn. Trump’s first choice — retired Vice Admiral Robert Harward — turned down the offer.
The president tweeted last morning that he “will be having many meetings this weekend at The Southern White House.”
Trump also planned a campaign rally yesterday afternoon, and he continued his Twitter attacks against the news media.
Finding a new national security adviser has proved challenging for the president. He had also expressed interest in former CIA Director David Petraeus, but Spicer said Petraeus was no longer under consideration.
Petraeus, a retired four-star general, resigned as CIA director in 2012 and pleaded guilty to one misdemeanour charge of mishandling classified information relating to documents he had provided to his biographer, with whom he was having an affair.
Flynn resigned at Trump’s request on Monday after revelations that he misled Vice President Mike Pence about discussing sanctions with Russia’s ambassador to the US during the transition.
Trump said in a news conference on Thursday that he was disappointed by how Flynn had treated Pence, but did not believe Flynn had done anything wrong by having the conversations.
PTI