(Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump said he sent Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman “to a much different location,” referring to the removal of the National Security Council official who delivered damning testimony against the president in House impeachment hearings.

“We sent him on his way to a much different location,” Trump said Tuesday in the Oval Office when asked about Vindman’s removal last week. The president added that Vindman was now under the supervision of General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

“He can have him, and his brother also,” Trump said, referring to Vindman’s brother, who was also removed from his NSC post.

Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said Vindman will spend some time at the Army’s headquarters before going to a military service college. Speaking in an interview on Cheddar.com, McCarthy said the move is an “advancement in his career,” even though Vindman’s time on the NSC staff was cut short by about three months after Trump fumed over his testimony in the Ukraine controversy, calling him “very insubordinate.”

The White House has not offered any official explanation for the ouster of either of the Vindmans. Trump’s National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien said his staff was “bloated” when he took over last year and that he plans to reduce it to about 100 people.

To contact the reporters on this story: Josh Wingrove in Washington at jwingrove4@bloomberg.net;Tony Capaccio in Washington at acapaccio@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Joshua Gallu, Justin Blum

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