Top Trump official exiting after chat group scandal
WASHINGTON: Donald Trump's national security advisor is to leave his post – the first major departure of the president's new term – after being embroiled in a scandal over a chat group leak, US media reported Thursday.
Mike Waltz and his deputy Alex Wong were both set to leave the White House, CBS News reported, while Fox News said Trump was expected to comment on the matter soon.
The 51-year-old former US congressman from Florida lasted just over 100 days of Trump's second term, which has so far been more stable in terms of personnel than his first.
Trump cycled through four national security advisors during his first presidency.
A White House official did not confirm the reports, saying they "do not want to get ahead of any announcement."
Waltz showed no sign that he knew of his imminent departure when appearing on Fox News early Wednesday, hailing the new minerals deal with Ukraine.
"Nobody said (it) could be done. President Trump said 'get it done'," he said.
Saying Trump has boosted US military recruitment, he added: "I'm so excited about this. This is leadership at its finest, led by our commander in chief, who loves the troops and they love him."
Waltz, a noted foreign policy hawk and former US special forces officer, was seen as a moderate voice in the Trump administration when he was appointed.
Trump had repeatedly offered vocal backing of Waltz after the scandal broke in late March.
But Waltz had been under pressure since the editor-in-chief of the Atlantic Magazine revealed he had been mistakenly added to a chat on the commercial messaging app Signal about military attacks on Yemen's Huthi rebels.
Officials on the chat laid out the attack plan including the timings that US warplanes would take off to bomb targets, with the first texts barely half an hour before they launched.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has also faced pressure over the scandal.
"1215et: F-18s LAUNCH (1st strike package)", Hegseth wrote in one text, referring to F/A-18 US Navy jets, before adding that "Target Terrorist is @ his Known Location so SHOULD BE ON TIME."
"1415: Strike Drones on Target (THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP, pending earlier 'Trigger Based' targets)."
A short time later, Waltz sent real-time intelligence on the aftermath of an attack, writing that US forces had identified the target "walking into his girlfriend's building and it's now collapsed."
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