US National Security Council spokesman Anton to depart as John Bolton takes over

Michael Anton, the National Security Council (NSC) spokesman of the US has planned to step down from the Donald Trump administration, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said on Sunday, April 8. He said he will join Hillsdale College's Kirby Center as a writer and lecturer.

The latest change was amid a series of changes at the NSC, including the entry of former US ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton who was set to take over the reigns as the national security adviser on Monday, April 9.

Bolton will succeed HR McMaster, a move which has created ripples in the USA's political and diplomatic circles for his over-hawkish outlooks.

Anton, who was called by Sanders as one of the "smartest and most talented individuals" she worked with besides being an "amazing chef", was brought into the NSC by Trump's first national security adviser Michael Flynn who himself did not last long in his post. The president also called Anton on Sunday and thanked him for his contribution, sources in the White House said.

Anton, who is known to be a caustic speaker at times, was popular in the White House. Known to be a rare conservative intellectual to have joined the Trump administration, Anton penned under a pseudonym "The Flight 93 Election" ahead of the 2016 presidential poll in the US praising Trump and blasted the possibility of a Hillary Clinton presidency which he called "Russian Roulette with a semi-auto".

The transition in the NSC is taking place when the Trump administration has found itself in the middle of a number of international challenges and the foreign service aides and advisers would have to work harder to chalk out the right policy courses.

Trump is particularly under pressure on Syria where an alleged chemical attack left several people dead in Douma, the last town held by the rebels in Syria's Eastern Ghouta.