US President Donald Trump’s national security adviser Michael Waltz and his chief deputy Alex Wong are reportedly to resign their positions, US media reported on Thursday.
Media Reports Indicate Imminent Departures
Both Waltz and his deputy, Alex Wong, were expected to depart. CBS News said so. Fox News reported that Trump was likely to weigh in on the issue shortly.
The former US congressman is the first high-ranking official to leave the administration in Trump’s second term, which has otherwise been more stable on a personnel front than his first.
White House Remains Tight-Lipped
A White House spokesperson declined to comment on the reports, saying that they “do not want to get ahead of any announcement.”
Waltz had been under fire after the Atlantic Magazine’s editor-in-chief revealed in March that the national security adviser had inadvertently added him to a conversation on the commercial messaging app Signal about attacks on Huthi rebels.
The NSA subsequently claimed “full responsibility” for it and stated: “It’s embarrassing. We’re going to get to the bottom of it.” But he was subsequently charged with using government communications on personal Gmail accounts.
The episode elicited criticism from top officials and stoked internal worries about operational security within Trump’s national security team.
Who is Michael Waltz?
- Waltz came to the Trump administration after six years in Congress, representing a Florida district.
- Waltz is the first Green Beret, a member of the US Army Special Forces, to serve in Congress.
- His wife, Julia Nesheiwat, was Trump’s homeland security advisor during the end of his first term.
- Waltz was on active-duty Army duty for four years before transferring to the Florida Guard. In the Guard, he completed several combat tours in Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa and received four Bronze Stars, two of which were with valour.
- He is one of the strongest right-wing critics of China in the US Congress.
Earlier, Waltz has pointed out the threat posed to India by China, cautioned against the China-Pakistan nexus as a threat to both the US and India, and emphasized the economic convergences between the US and India.
