Trump has to get over John Bolton's mustache if he wants him as his next national security adviser
- President Donald Trump reportedly wants to replace national security adviser H.R. McMaster with former UN ambassador John Bolton, but he seems to not like his mustache.
- In policy, Bolton is much more hawkish than McMaster, and openly advocates for striking North Korea.
- In appearance, McMaster is much more clean cut than Bolton, and fits with Trump's "central casting" aesthetic and appreciation for US military generals.
For months, rumors have swirled of President Donald Trump's dissatisfaction with national security adviser H.R. McMaster, and his desire to replace him with former UN ambassador John Bolton - but first Trump will have to forgive Bolton's prominent mustache.
McMaster, a hawk on military and foreign policy issues who believes the US needs to demonstrate its strength to deter bad actors, being replaced by Bolton, an extreme hawk who advocates for bombing North Korea and pushed hard for the Iraq war in the 2000s, has huge policy implications.
But there's good evidence that one factor holding Bolton back from the job is his thick, white mustache.
Trump, reportedly does not like facial hair. None of Trump's close associates have facial hair, a pattern dating back for decades.
"Donald was not going to like that mustache," a Trump associate told The Washington Post around the time of his inauguration. "I can't think of anyone that's really close to Donald that has a beard that he likes."
"Bolton's mustache is a problem," former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon was quoted as saying in journalist Michael Wolff's tell-all book about the Trump administration. "Trump doesn't think he looks the part. You know Bolton is an acquired taste."
Trump has said repeatedly that he prefers to associate with people who appear to come out of "central casting," or people who look the part in a Hollywood sense.
But academic research actually backs up Trump's apparent distaste for facial hair in his political associates.
In 2015, Rebekah Herrick, a political science professor at Oklahoma State University published a paper called "Why Beards and Mustaches are Rare for Modern Politicians," which found voters don't like facial hair on political figures.
In 2016, amid the first talk of Bolton's appointment to a White House role, Bolton tweeted "I appreciate the grooming advice from the totally unbiased mainstream media, but I will not be shaving my #mustache."
The General look vs. Bolton's look
In contrast, McMaster's look couldn't be any cleaner. McMaster still sometimes dons his US Army uniform and hardly has a hair on his head.
Trump has gotten flack from servicemembers for calling his top advisers, like McMaster, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, and chief of staff John Kelly "my generals," but he seems to have a genuine respect for the uniform and look of military men.
On Thursday, after a torrent of reports that McMaster was headed out the door, the White House denied any impending staff shakeups. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, recently dismissed by Trump, had been dogged by rumors of his weak standing in the White House for months before his eventual departure.
McMaster may well stay in Trump's cabinet for some time, but if Trump can overcome his apparent distaste for Bolton's big white mustache, he might he picked next for the role.