Who is Mike Waltz, Trump's security adviser likely to be fired for Signal chat leak
Mike Waltz, a former US congressman, is the first major official to leave the administration in Donald Trump's second term.
President Donald Trump's national security adviser, Michael Waltz, and his top deputy, Alex Wong, are likely to step down from their posts, US media reported on Thursday.
Waltz and his deputy Alex Wong were both set to leave, CBS News reported, while Fox News said Trump was expected to comment on the matter soon.
The former US congressman is the first major official to leave the administration in Trump's second term, which has so far been more stable in terms of personnel than his first.
A White House official did not confirm the reports, saying that they "do not want to get ahead of any announcement."
Waltz had been under pressure after the editor-in-chief of the Atlantic Magazine revealed in March that the national security adviser had mistakenly added him to a chat on the commercial messaging app Signal about attacks on Huthi rebels.
The NSA later took “full responsibility” for it and said: “It's embarrassing. We're going to get to the bottom of it.” However, he was later accused of using personal Gmail accounts for government communications.
The incident drew backlash from senior officials and fueled internal concerns about operational security within Trump's national security apparatus.
Who is Michael Waltz?
- Waltz joined the Trump administration after serving six years in Congress, representing a district in Florida.
- Waltz is the first Green Beret, a part of the US Army Special Forces, to serve in Congress.
- Hiswife, Julia Nesheiwat, was Trump’s homeland security advisor at the end of his first term.
- Waltz served in the active-duty Army for four years before moving to the Florida Guard. While in the Guard, he did multiple combat tours in Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa and was awarded four Bronze Stars, including two with valour.
- He is among the most staunchly critical voices on China in the US Congress.
- In the past, Waltz has highlighted the threat India faced from China, warned against the China-Pakistan axis as posing a threat to both the US and India, and underlined the economic convergences between the US and India.
