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Mike Waltz was out as the National Security Advisor in the Donald Trump administration on Thursday, reports said.
Mike Waltz out as US NSA (Reuters Image)
Mike Waltz is all set to quit as US President Donald Trump’s National Security Advisor, media reports said on Thursday.
He and his deputy Alex Wong were purged, the reason for which has yet not be disclosed.
Waltz, an ex-Florida congressman, has faced criticism from Democrats and others since March after the Signal chat leak case blew up. The Atlantic editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, had revealed that he was added to a Signal group chat with top national security officials, including Waltz, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, as they discussed war plans related to strikes on rebels in Yemen on March 15.
Last month, Waltz took responsibility for the inclusion of the journalist in the group.
“I take full responsibility. I built the group. It’s embarrassing. We’re going to get to the bottom of it,” he told Fox News earlier.
Waltz had attended Trump’s meeting along with other Cabinet members on Wednesday after the US President completed his 100th day in office in his second term.
Alex Wong, who served as Waltz’s principal deputy national security advisor, was mentioned in the Signal chat leak earlier this year. According to The Atlantic, he was identified in Waltz’s initial March message as the staffer responsible for “pulling together a tiger team.”
“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 told the media that several other National Security Council staffers had been dismissed after The Atlantic’s report on the Signal chat leak, which described the administration as discussing “war plans” for a strike on Houthi rebels in Yemen over text.
However, the Trump administration had maintained that no classified information was shared in the Signal chat, as the President repeatedly defended Waltz amid the controversy.
In March, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the White House considered the Signal chat leak case “closed,” and continued to support Waltz.
“As the president has made it very clear, Mike Waltz continues to be an important part of his national security team. And this case has been closed here at the White House, as far as we are concerned,” she had said on March 31.
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Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)
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