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United States President Donald Trump's National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and his deputy, Alex Wong, are set to step down from their posts, U.S. media outlet CBS News reported Thursday, citing multiple sources.
A White House official declined to confirm the report, stating they “do not want to get ahead of any announcement.”
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Meanwhile, Trump confirmed Thursday that he was ousting Waltz following a chat group leak, but that he was the new pick for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
"Mike Waltz has worked hard to put our Nation's Interests first. I know he will do the same in his new role," Trump said on Truth Social."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio will now also serve as "interim" national security advisor, he added.
Waltz, a former congressman, came under fire in March after he mistakenly included Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, in a Signal group chat discussing classified U.S. military strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.
Despite mounting pressure and internal discussions over whether he should resign, Trump publicly defended him.
“Michael Waltz has learned a lesson, and he’s a good man,” Trump said at the time.
Waltz is the first senior official to depart in Trump’s second term, which has thus far seen greater personnel stability compared to his first administration.
The controversy stemmed from a Signal message thread in which U.S. officials discussed operational details of the Yemen strikes. Goldberg, mistakenly added to the chat, later disclosed that participants had outlined specific timing of airstrikes and aircraft involved.
Texts shared in the thread reportedly included a message from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stating, “1215et: F-18s LAUNCH (1st strike package),” in reference to U.S. Navy F/A-18 jets. Hegseth added that the “Target Terrorist is @ his Known Location so SHOULD BE ON TIME.”
Another message read, “1415: Strike Drones on Target (THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP, pending earlier 'Trigger Based' targets).”
In a later message, Waltz allegedly relayed real-time intelligence from the field, noting that U.S. forces had identified the target “walking into his girlfriend’s building and it’s now collapsed.”
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