Trump to fire national security advisor in first government shakeup

Signalgate, the scandal in which a group of senior officials in Donald Trump’s administration exchanged messages on Signal about bombing Houthi rebels in Yemen, has claimed its first casualty. U.S. President Donald Trump plans to dismiss his National Security Advisor Mike Waltz — the creator of the messaging group — a month after the scandal broke, according to U.S. media reports.

This will mark the first dismissal of a senior official during Trump’s current term and comes as his administration reaches its 101st day. Waltz may be replaced by Steve Witkoff, the current White House special envoy for negotiations with Russia and on the Middle East, according to CBS News, the first outlet to report the advisor’s departure.

Signalgate came to light when Waltz mistakenly added Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor of progressive magazine The Atlantic, to the Signal group. While the journalist remained in the chat, several high-ranking officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, shared classified details about planned bombings — such as the types of aircraft to be used and their scheduled departure times.

After the scandal erupted, President Trump was privately furious with Waltz — not only for his mishandling of sensitive information, but also for having the phone number of a journalist considered unwelcome by the Republican White House. Still, Trump waited to dismiss Waltz until after his administration’s 100-day milestone celebrations. He recalled the early days of his first term, when frequent dismissals contributed to an image of chaos in the administration. Back then, the first major departure was also a national security advisor — Michael Flynn, who resigned after reports of his ties to Russia emerged.

In Waltz’s case, distrust had already been brewing within Trump’s inner circle. The 51-year-old former military officer and Florida congressman was viewed by some in the Trump movement as a neoconservative who supported foreign interventions — an absolute red line for this administration. Trump, who selects his team based on loyalty and their ability to communicate effectively on television, reportedly found Waltz ineffective at conveying the administration’s message in the media.

In recent weeks, Waltz had been increasingly sidelined in both meetings and public events. During a meeting with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre last week, Trump invited Secretary of State Marco Rubio to speak to the press — but not Waltz. The national security advisor was also notably absent from Trump’s 100-day rally in Macomb County, Michigan, on Tuesday.

Along with Waltz, his deputy Alex Wong is also set to be dismissed.

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