‘It’s embarrassing’: Mike Waltz ousted as Trump’s national security advisor after signal chat leak

Mike Waltz, who served as National Security Advisor under President Donald Trump, and his deputy, Alex Wong, were removed from their jobs. This happened after a private Signal group chat was leaked in March. The chat included Waltz, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, and Jeffrey Goldberg, the Editor-in-Chief of The Atlantic magazine.

Per Politico and The Guardian, even before the Signal chat leak, Waltz’s position was reportedly unstable because of difficult relationships with senior officials. After the leak, he reportedly sought advice from people close to the Vice President, including JD Vance, on how to improve his relationship with Wiles. Additionally, Waltz faced criticism for being seen as too aggressive on military matters, which some felt conflicted with Trump’s “America First” agenda.

Weeks before the actual dismissals, news reports suggested Waltz’s job was at risk. While possible replacements had been discussed for weeks, these plans moved forward in the days leading up to his firing. Some of the names considered for his replacement included Steve Witkoff (Trump’s special envoy handling negotiations with Russia, Iran, and Hamas), Stephen Miller (Trump’s top policy advisor), Sebastian Gorka (National Security Council senior director for counterterrorism), and Richard Grenell (Trump’s special envoy for special missions).

Trump fires another high level member of his team

Waltz admitted that he was the one who added Goldberg to the group, calling the situation embarrassing and promising to look into how it happened. The chat contained talks about planned military strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen. At first, the White House said the issue was resolved and insisted that no classified information had been shared. However, the leak caused a lot of controversy, especially after The Atlantic reported on the Signal chat, describing the discussions as “war plans.”

Trump later confirmed that some National Security Council staff had been fired, though he said it was only a small number. This first round of dismissals came after a meeting with cabinet members, including Waltz, which took place after Trump’s 100th day back in office. Reactions inside the White House were mixed. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt initially said the White House would not comment on reports about Waltz possibly being removed.

According to Fox, the administration expressed support for Waltz at first, with Leavitt saying the matter was closed and that the team had made the U.S. safer. However, according to several unnamed sources, Waltz had lost the trust of other officials in the administration and had few allies left in the White House, a situation that got worse over time. His relationship with Chief of Staff Susie Wiles was said to be tense, with reports that Wiles hardly spoke to him.

The removal of Waltz and Wong marks the first major high-level departure in Trump’s second term. According to unnamed sources, the decision to fire them came because Waltz had lost the confidence of other officials and lacked support within the White House.