United States President Donald Trump’s national security adviser Mike Waltz and his deputy Alex Wong will step down from their White House posts, news agency Reuters quoted sources briefed on the matter as saying.
In March, Waltz, 51, drew sharp criticism after he created a Signal group chat and accidentally added The Atlantic journalist Jeffrey Goldberg, inadvertently revealing conversations with senior national security officials about potential military action against Houthi targets in Yemen.
Amid the growing demand for Waltz’s resignation after the chat leak report was published by The Atlantic, Trump stood by him, insisting he had “learnt a lesson, and he’s a good man”. Waltz took “full responsibility” for adding Goldberg to the top secret group.
According to reports, Trump is likely to dismiss his National Security Adviser as early as today, citing dissatisfaction with his performance. While Trump is no stranger to purging his administration — having dismissed numerous officials during his first term — Waltz becomes the first casualty of his second presidency.
Marco Rubio and Christopher Landau are both under consideration to temporarily replace Waltz as Secretary of State, The Telegraph reported.
Meanwhile, some reports also claimed that the White House has begun searching for a new Defence Secretary to replace Pete Hegseth after explosive revelations that he leaked classified military information through private group chats on the encrypted app.
A New York Times expose on April 20 revealed that Hegseth shared minute-by-minute details of US airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen via a private Signal group. Among the recipients were his wife, Jennifer — a former Fox News producer — his brother Phil, a senior Pentagon adviser, and Navy attorney Timothy Parlatore.
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