Key Takeaways
- US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz will leave his post, marking the first major shakeup in Donald Trump’s second term of presidency.
- Mike Waltz’s departure is due to a scandal involving a group chat discussing an upcoming strike in Yemen.
- Steve Witkoff, a real estate developer and friend of President Donald Trump, is under consideration to replace Waltz as national security adviser.
New York: U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz will leave his post, according to multiple media reports on Thursday.
Both Waltz and his deputy Alex Wong are expected to leave as soon as Thursday, which would mark the first major shakeup in Donald Trump’s second term of presidency.
The White House has not made a formal announcement on Waltz’s departure from the Trump administration.
U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, a real estate developer and friend of President Donald Trump, is under consideration to replace Waltz as national security adviser, said a report by CNN, citing an anonymous source.
Waltz came under fire in recent weeks after he mistakenly included a journalist on group chat discussing an upcoming strike in Yemen.
Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic was invited on March 11 to join a group chat named “Houthi PC Small Group” on Signal, a popular encrypted messaging app used by journalists and government officials.
High-ranking officials from the Trump administration, including Waltz, JD Vance, Marco Rubio, and Pete Hegseth, discussed plans for a forthcoming strike on the Houthis in Yemen. This move has been met with controversy and criticism from various quarters.
On March 25, Waltz said he took “full responsibility” for the scandal. Several staffers from the National Security Council (NSC), which is headed by the U.S. national security adviser, were dismissed in early April.
He has been marginalized in policymaking though Trump publicly defended him in the beginning.
Though Waltz planned to travel to Michigan on Tuesday for Trump’s rally marking his first 100 days in office, Trump told him not to attend, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal, citing anonymous administration officials.
Born in 1974, Waltz served as a Republican congressman representing Florida’s 6th District from January 2019 to January 2025.
In February 2017, then U.S. National Security Adviser Mike Flynn was fired within four weeks of Trump’s inauguration. During his first term, Trump had four national security advisers, a post which doesn’t need the approval of the Senate.
