President Trump
affirmed he won't fire National Security Adviser Mike Waltz despite a recent
misstep involving a journalist in a private Signal chat. Amid reports that of Donald Trump being suggested to oust National
Security Adviser Mike Waltz's after his embarrassing misstep of inclusion of a
journalist in a Signal
chat, the US President on Saturday made his clearest
commitment to not fire anyone over the accidental leak of his administration's
plans for an airstrike against the Houthis in Yemen...US President Donald Trump said..."I don't fire
people because of fake news and because of witch hunts,” Trump said in an
interview with NBC News. Donald Trump also asserted that he had confidence in
his national security adviser Mike Waltz and Pete Hegseth, his Pentagon chief.
Asked if there were
conversations about firing Mike Waltz, Donald Trump said, “I've never heard
that. And nobody else makes that decision but me, and I've never heard
it."
Mike Waltz mistakenly
added Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor of The
Atlantic magazine, to a
group text using the Signal encrypted messaging service where top officials
were discussing plans to attack the Houthis
During the chat,
Hegseth included details on how the strike would unfold before it took place.
Afterwards, The
Atlantic published an article on the internal exchange, shocking the national
security establishment and hitting headlines across the world. Following
a tumultuous day of headlines surrounding the now-infamous Signal chat, Vice
President JD Vance, Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and senior personnel official
Sergio Gor held a private meeting with President Donald Trump on Wednesday evening to discuss National
Security Adviser Mike Waltz's misstep, according to a Politico report.
Vance, Wiles, and Gor
gently suggested it might be time to part ways with Waltz, according to two
sources familiar with the discussion cited in the report, who spoke on the
condition of anonymity.
While Donald Trump acknowledged the mistake, the
president ultimately chose not to act on the advice to fire Mike Waltz—at least for now. The sources indicated that Trump's reluctance
stemmed from one key factor: he was unwilling to give the liberal media or
Democrats a "win" by dismissing the national security adviser.
“They don’t want to
give the press a scalp,” the report quoted a White House ally close to the
team. White House insiders suggest that while Waltz is still employed, some
administration officials are simply waiting for the right moment to let him go,
perhaps once the news cycle quiets down.
One insider said:
“They’ll stick by him for now, but he’ll be gone in a couple of weeks.”
Vance’s office declined to comment over the
controversy. Meanwhile, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reiterated
Trump’s support for Waltz, stating in a statement, “President Trump continues to have the utmost confidence in his
national security team, including National Security Advisor Mike Waltz.”