WASHINGTON, USA – President Donald Trump has dismissed his National Security Adviser, Michael Waltz, after a major security breach involving the accidental inclusion of a journalist in a confidential group chat discussing military operations in Yemen.
The decision marks the first cabinet-level dismissal of Trump’s second term.
It follows the scandal now widely dubbed “Signalgate,” after The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg was mistakenly added to a Signal group chat between Waltz and 17 senior U.S. officials.
The chat included sensitive details about upcoming strikes on Houthi rebel positions.
Goldberg published the content of the messages shortly thereafter, setting off a firestorm of public backlash and internal discontent within the national security community.
The leak raised questions about information security protocols at the highest levels of government.
“This has to do about competence, not ideology,” said political commentator Mark Halperin on his 2Way YouTube show.
“I do believe he [Trump] has made up his mind, but he could change his mind.”
Halperin noted widespread disapproval within the national security establishment over Waltz’s handling of the breach.
Despite mounting pressure, Waltz had clung to his post for several weeks.
As recently as Wednesday, April 30, 2025, he appeared at a Cabinet meeting and gave an interview on Fox & Friends, touting a minerals agreement with Ukraine as a win for American taxpayers.
But his explanation for the mistake during a Fox News interview with Laura Ingraham only drew further criticism.
“Well, if you have somebody else’s contact and then it, and then somehow it gets sucked in,” Waltz said, offering a muddled account of how Goldberg was mistakenly added to the encrypted group chat.
President Trump had previously refrained from removing Waltz, reportedly to avoid giving Goldberg the satisfaction of influencing internal White House decisions.
However, in a recent interview with The Atlantic, Trump gave what many saw as a lukewarm defence of the embattled adviser.
“Waltz is fine. I mean, he’s here. He just left this office. He’s fine. He was beat up also,” the president said.
Sources close to the administration told The Daily Mail that Waltz’s firing had been imminent and that an announcement was forthcoming.
Steve Witkoff, the current special envoy to Russia and a longtime Trump ally, is reportedly under consideration as Waltz’s successor.
Witkoff has previously met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and is seen as a politically loyal figure within Trump’s national security orbit.
