Mike Waltz, the former national security adviser, is leaving. His resignation follows a major scandal in which he accidentally leaked the locations of imminent U.S. missile strikes in Yemen. That episode, soon nicknamed “Signalgate,” has exposed serious fissures within the National Security Council. It further raises deeply troubling questions about Waltz’s effectiveness in his role.
The whole mess started when Rep. This discussion revealed intimate and incendiary information of planned airstrikes in Yemen prior to their execution. The fallout from this incident eventually brought tremendous pressure on his tenure within the Trump administration. Sources indicate that Waltz’s time at the National Security Council was nearing its end, a fact that was communicated to him and his colleague Alex Wong.
Waltz’s departure marks the conclusion of a fraught tenure characterized by a strained working relationship with key officials, including Donald Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles. His magic inside the administration has been slowly fading, according to many White House insiders. Waltz — a former state lawmaker himself — wanted to repair connections and add juice to his own administration’s run. Afterwards he requested counseling from JD Vance and other associates of the vice president.
Waltz worked hard, but his destiny was determined. Despite attending a readiness cabinet meeting, he was reportedly told just minutes later that he had been fired. As disbelief set in, his circumstances only became more dire. Even media allies like Tucker Carlson felt comfortable pushing back on his performance. The continuing friction prompted an internal audit. One additional review by a more senior officer reaffirmed that Waltz’s error was a real mistake, nonetheless reassuring an angry Trump over the incident.
Despite his strength and influence, Waltz was weakened by provocation spread via rumor. She accused Alex Wong of having dual loyalties to China. Loomer’s visit to the White House last month, at Trump’s invitation, resulted in the dismissal of several staffers loyal to Waltz, deepening his isolation within the administration.
Indeed, as the Signalgate scandal broke, a number of political leaders—including President Obama—reflected on the national security ramifications. One commentator remarked, “They fired the [national security council] guy, but there are going to be many more problems, just like Signalgate that come out of the defense department, as long as Hegseth is in charge. This is not a one-off. This is going to happen over and over and over again.”
Chuck Schumer criticized the decision-making within the administration: “They should fire him, but they’re firing the wrong guy. They should be firing Hegseth.”
Waltz’s exit reflects a broader instability within Trump’s national security team, as he and Wong lost the confidence of their peers. But without allies in the White House, they were left out in the cold and became more and more marginalized. The administration’s very real hope is that they can appoint a new national security adviser and put this genie back into the bottle, but that genie is out.