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National Security Adviser Waltz to Depart After Chat Controversy
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May 1, 2025
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2:46Now PlayingMichael Waltz is leaving his post as national security adviser, people familiar with the matter said, a stunning fall for one of President Donald Trump’s top aides.
Waltz had come under fire in the weeks since he acknowledged inadvertently adding Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg to a Signal chat group set up to discuss pending attacks on Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Several news reports said Waltz’s deputy, Alex Wong, was also stepping down. Wong had been singled out by far-right activist Laura Loomer, who also took credit for the firings in April of several top national-security officials.
“We are not going to respond to reporting from anonymous sources,” White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said.
On Thursday, Loomer wrote a one-word post on X — “SCALP” — that linked to an earlier post that called for Wong’s removal.
Waltz is the first-high profile official to leave the second Trump administration. Trump cycled through four national security advisers in his first term. His first national security adviser, retired General Michael Flynn, resigned after less than one month on the job after revelations that he misled then Vice President Mike Pence about his communications with Russia’s ambassador to the US.
There was little indication that Waltz’s firing had been imminent. The former Florida congressman traveled with Trump aboard Marine One on Tuesday for an event commemorating his first 100 days in office. Waltz also appeared on Fox News earlier Thursday to tout a natural-resources deal signed the day before by the US and Ukraine.
He called it “good for the American taxpayer” and touted the work of Trump’s national security team.
Waltz included Goldberg in the text thread days before the attack. The text group, which also included Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and others, discussed details of plans for strikes on Iran-backed Houthi rebels who have staged numerous attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea.
Trump later offered a tepid defense of Waltz in an interview with Goldberg and other reporters with the Atlantic.
“Waltz is fine,” Trump said. “I mean, he’s here. He just left this office. He’s fine. He was beat up also.”
Waltz joined the Trump administration after serving six years in Congress. He’s a former Army Green Beret who served multiple tours in Afghanistan. As national security adviser he was responsible for coordinating foreign policy within the West Wing and briefing the president on global crises.
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