National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and other staffers have been ousted by the National Security Council.
According to Fox News, Waltz and his deputy, Alex Wong, were terminated Thursday, with sources saying other staffers are likely to be removed and President Donald Trump is expected to speak publicly about the ousting.
The backlash followed an article by Atlantic magazine Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg, who recounted his unexpected addition to a Signal group chat involving top national security officials — among them Waltz, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe — as they deliberated over strikes targeting terrorists in Yemen.
Waltz told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham that he took responsibility for what happened.
“I take full responsibility. I built the group,” Waltz said. “It’s embarrassing. We’re going to get to the bottom of it.”
Following his 100th day in office, Trump held a cabinet meeting with members and Waltz in attendance Tuesday.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told Fox News, “The National Security Advisor Waltz is out. He’s the first. He certainly won’t be the last.”
Wong, who served as Waltz’s principal deputy national security advisor, was identified in the Signal chat leak as the staffer responsible for “pulling together a tiger team,” according to Waltz’s initial message to the group in March, as reported by The Atlantic.
“Team – establishing a principles [sic] group for coordination on Houthis, particularly for over the next 72 hours,” Waltz wrote in the group chat. “My deputy Alex Wong is pulling together a tiger team at deputies/agency Chief of Staff level following up from the meeting in the Sit Room this morning for action items and will be sending that out later this evening.”
On April 3, Trump informed the media that several National Security Council staffers had been dismissed in the wake of The Atlantic’s report on the Signal chat leak. The report depicted the Trump administration as exchanging “war plans” via text regarding a forthcoming strike on Houthi rebels in Yemen.
“Always, we’re going to let go of people we don’t like, or people we don’t think can do the job, or people who may have loyalties to somebody else,” Trump said.
At the time, Trump acknowledged that some Council members had been dismissed but said that the number was not significant. He did, however, reaffirm his confidence in the team, stating that they had “done very well” and achieved “big success with the Houthis.”
The Trump administration asserted that no classified information was shared in the Signal chat in March. Throughout the controversy, Trump has consistently defended Waltz.
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