National Security Advisor Michael Waltz accidentally included AtlanticIn a group chat about military attack plans in the Signal Message app, his editors, in short, found himself very thin with his boss.
But President Donald Trump and his advisers are reluctant to sack Waltz through the political blow, especially in the first 100 days of the new administration. Yesterday's 100-day mark passed. Today, on the 101st day of the administration, Trump took action against his national security adviser, to remove Waltz along with his principal, Alex Wong.
Hours after news of Waltz's removal, Trump wrote in The Society of Truth that he would nominate the former Florida Congressman as the UN ambassador. Trump said he would give his Secretary of State Marco Rubio, an additional responsibility for the national security adviser, at least on a temporary basis. The dual role was last played by Henry Kissinger from 1973 to 1975.
Waltz is the first top aide to be replaced in Trump's second term. The overhaul echoed the firing of Trump’s first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, who discussed his discussion with the Russian ambassador in February 2017 for lying to Vice President Mike Pence. Trump eventually had four national security advisers in his first term.
People familiar with Trump’s thoughts say the origin of waltz sin predates signal chat. They said he had poor cooperation with other senior members of Trump's team and could not prove to the president that he could manage his own employees. The claim that Trump's decision to change his national security team is based on interviews with 14 current White House officials and external advisers, all with them on anonymity to discuss the conditions of sensitive internal deliberations.
Officials say waltz has never been suitable for Trump in some ways.
His first post in the executive branch was as an aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, whose hawkish foreign policy views stood out among Trump’s Republican Party. During Trump's first presidential campaign in 2016, Waltz appeared in anti-Trump ads, accusing him of evading Vietnamese draft and advising his conservative compatriots to "stop Trump." His first reaction to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 was accusing President Vladimir Putin of "despicable war crimes", a clear criticism of Moscow where Trump refused to speak.
During last year's campaign, Waltz had defended his Green Beret on Fox News for a while, which made him respect Trump. During the transition period, waltz often found on Mar-a-Lago, although rarely sitting at Trump's desk. Despite diverting his point of view to be consistent with the “America First” dogma, Waltz never found his way into the president’s inner circle, nor was he trusted by faithful foot soldiers.
He clashed with Trump's chief of staff, Susie Wiles, who was dismissed and familiar with the dynamics told us. Despite Waltz's efforts to expel professional officials who began their service with the National Security Council under Joe Biden, his staff remained the goal of the powerful White House Personnel Office, which sees the NSC as a fertile foundation that can keep officials from fully committed to Trump's agenda. On substantive foreign policy issues, Waltz is keeping a distance from other influential voices in Trump’s inner circle. If Moscow does not cooperate in peace talks, he is one of the few advisers who have been pushing for escalation of sanctions against Russia.
After months of chaos at the National Security Commission, personnel underwent overhaul, the U.S. government is a highly sensitive part that provides the president with a forum to consider issues imposing compulsory national security and foreign policy implications with senior advisers and cabinet. When Waltz's team relocated in the first week of the new administration to refute the NSC detailed career officials, it was a priority for Trump, who believes NSC staff to shrink his agenda during his first term. The firing hindered the core functions of the Council due to the entire office vacancy. Meanwhile, the White House Personnel Office has postponed new recruitment, which is not usually involved in NSC recruitment.
The dysfunction broke out in March and April and undermined Waltz's control over his staff.
In March, Waltz accidentally added AtlanticJeffrey Goldberg's editor-in-chief, signal chat about the upcoming military attack by the Hotty militants in Yemen. Waltz struggled to explain the error, once describing why he saved Goldberg's numbers in his phone, saying, "It was attracted." A former NSC official told us that Waltz's problems began to begin seriously. "There is no sense of suspicion," the former official said. "It is the signal gate that makes him vulnerable."
In April, Trump ordered the dismissal of numerous NSC officials based on the advice of Laura Loomer. During an Oval Office meeting with Trump, Wober blamed senior members of Waltz's unfaithful staff. Waltz, which has an office in the West Wing, didn't even attend the meeting at the beginning. When he joined, the National Security Advisor protested that he had conducted a careful scrutiny of team members.
The current and former officials told us the wonders made it clear that Waltz lost control of his own staff. Waltz was scheduled to attend Trump's Michigan rally this week in honor of his first 100 days, but was eventually instructed not to go.
"He was hired to look good on TV," said an official in Trump's first term. "He failed; he was a bad messenger, and on TV, he was never seen as being bought."
The dismissal of the National Security Advisor raised anxiety among key U.S. allies because of his NATO view and support for Ukraine, who he believed was a stable force in the government, and he had expressed as a member of Congress. Western officials have been shocked by the firing of NSC staff after Loomer appeared in the Oval Office.
Some officials from allies recently told us that they fear that loyalty testing is in driver decisions, especially in lower levels of national security agencies, usually composed of professionals and are not affected by this obvious political influence.
If Waltz felt his time at the White House end this week, he wouldn't have continued. In an article published online on Tuesday, he outlined “100 Days of National Security Victory.” On the morning of the firing, he appeared as a happy warrior Fox and friendscalling for strengthening military recruitment and Trump’s claims, Trump will soon replace him: “This is the best leadership.”
Michael Scherer contributed to the report.