From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, March 25, 2025
Trump said poised to fire NSA Mike Waltz for including journalist in top secret war chat
Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz could be pushed out of his position after he added a journalist to a private chat on a messaging app about US strikes on the Houthis, Politico reports.
White House officials tell the outlet that US President Donald Trump will make a decision in the next day or two.
“Half of them are saying he’s never going to survive or shouldn’t survive,” a senior administration official tells Politico, referring to multiple text threads among staffers discussing Waltz’s fate. Two senior aides have brought up the idea of Waltz stepping down to avoid putting Trump in a “bad position,” says the report.
“Everyone in the White House can agree on one thing: Mike Waltz is a fucking idiot,” says one person close to the White House.
The incident was made public on Monday, in an Atlantic article by Jeffrey Goldberg, who was included in the chat. The US National Security Council confirmed the messages appeared to be authentic, and said it was investigating how Goldberg was inadvertently added.
The group, on the Signal messaging app, included Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard, Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff and 12 other officials.
Waltz has been a firm and outspoken backer of Israel throughout his career. He is seen as an Iran hawk, and represents a traditional muscular Republican foreign policy approach, as opposed to an emerging isolationist wing in the current administration.
“As President Trump said, the attacks on the Houthis have been highly successful and effective. President Trump continues to have the utmost confidence in his national security team, including national security adviser Mike Waltz,” says White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
House Speaker Mike Johnson tells Politico that Waltz shouldn’t resign. “He’s exceptionally qualified for the job. He is trusted — trustworthy,” Johnson says. “He was made for that job, and I have full confidence in him.”
Two officials say that Trump could also turn his ire on Vice President J.D. Vance for arguing against White House policy on Yemen in the leaked chat, or on Defense Secretary Pete Hesgeth for sharing classified details of the impending strikes.
