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Who is Alex Wong? Mike Waltz's deputy to leave Trump administration after Signal chat leak
Alex Nelson Wong, the Principal Deputy National Security Advisor for National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, is reportedly stepping down from his position.
National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and his deputy, Alex Wong, are reportedly stepping down from their roles, according to CBS News. Both are expected to leave their positions on Thursday.
Wong previously served in the first Trump administration as Deputy Special Representative for North Korea, as well as Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the State Department.
When announcing Alex Wong's appointment, President Donald Trump credited him with helping to negotiate the high-profile summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
"As Deputy Special Representative for North Korea, he helped negotiate my Summit with North Korean Leader, Kim Jong Un," Trump said in a statement at the time. "Alex also led the State Department's efforts to implement the Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy."
Earlier in his career, Alex Wong served as Foreign Policy Advisor and General Counsel to Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark.). He also worked for the State Department in Iraq as a Judicial and Anti-Corruption Advisor.
In addition, Wong spent several years in private legal practice, advising Fortune 100 clients on international trade and government investigations. He began his legal career as a law clerk for the Honorable Janice Rogers Brown of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Also Read: Mike Waltz, Alex Wong to resign: Here's who will replace NSA and deputy
Why are Waltz and Wong stepping down?
In March, Mike Waltz faced scrutiny after mistakenly adding The Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg to a Signal group chat intended for top national security officials. The chat contained sensitive discussions about a potential military strike on Houthi targets in Yemen. Among those included in the group were Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
Waltz took responsibility for the lapse. Trump, however, publicly defended him at the time, calling the incident a “mistake” and stating, “He’s not getting fired.”
Sources told CNN on Thursday that Waltz’s standing never fully recovered after the incident, and he gradually lost influence with top aides inside the West Wing.
