U.S. President Donald Trump has reportedly dismissed his National Security Adviser, Mike Waltz, and his deputy, Alex Wong, following a significant security breach involving sensitive military plans.
The incident, which occurred several weeks ago, involved Waltz mistakenly adding journalist Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic to a private Signal group chat that included top national security officials. The chat reportedly contained detailed discussions about planned airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.
According to the Daily Mail, sources say Waltz’s removal was anticipated and that Trump is expected to make the announcement official soon.
The breach, first revealed by journalist Mark Halperin on his 2Way YouTube show, reportedly caused widespread concern within the national security community. Halperin noted, “This has to do with competence, not ideology,” referring to the dissatisfaction with both Waltz and Wong.
The controversy began in March when Waltz, a former Republican congressman from Florida, organized a Signal chat to coordinate discussions around military operations. By accident, he included Goldberg, who later reported on the chat’s contents. Although he initially withheld specific operational details, Goldberg published more sensitive information—including the timing of the strikes and types of weapons involved—after top officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, stated no classified material had been compromised.
Waltz accepted responsibility for the mistake but was unable to explain how Goldberg’s contact ended up in his phone. Speaking to Fox News host Laura Ingraham, he speculated that contact data might have been synced inadvertently: “If you have somebody else’s contact, and then somehow it gets sucked in…”
The White House has not yet released an official statement on the dismissal.