Vice President J.D. Vance and other senior officials privately urged President Donald Trump to dismiss National Security Adviser Mike Waltz after Waltz inadvertently included a reporter in a confidential discussion about U.S. military strikes in Yemen, according to anonymous sources cited by Politico.
Two individuals allegedly familiar with the closed-door meeting at the White House on Wednesday night told Politico that Vance, Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and personnel chief Sergio Gor advised Trump that it might be time to let Waltz go. The president reportedly acknowledged that Waltz had "messed up" but ultimately decided against firing him.
“Like hell he’d give the liberal media and pearl-clutching Democrats a win,” Politico quoted an insider as saying, adding that the administration was unwilling to hand the press a "scalp."
The incident, first reported by The Atlantic on Monday, revealed that Waltz had mistakenly invited editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg to a confidential Signal chat where senior officials were discussing upcoming airstrikes on Houthi militants in Yemen. Waltz later took "full responsibility" for the error, calling it "embarrassing" in a Fox News interview and attributing it to a technical glitch.
Trump has downplayed the controversy, dismissing the media’s response as a “witch hunt” and questioning the reliability of Signal. He emphasized that no classified information had been compromised and hailed the military operation as "unbelievably successful."
"I don’t fire people because of fake news and witch hunts," Trump told NBC News on Saturday, reaffirming his confidence in both Waltz and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who was also accused of sharing sensitive information in the same Signal chat.
Vance has publicly backed the president’s decision. On Friday, he traveled with Waltz on a high-profile trip to Greenland, where he dismissed media speculation and defended the national security team.
“If you think you’re going to force the president of the United States to fire anybody, you’ve got another thing coming,” Vance told reporters.
Nevertheless, Politico suggested Waltz’s position remains uncertain, citing one Trump ally who predicted, “They’ll stick by him for now, but he’ll be gone in a couple of weeks.” Other unnamed sources described tensions within the administration, alleging that Waltz has alienated colleagues by overstepping boundaries and acting more like a principal than a staffer.
Waltz’s spokesman, Brian Hughes, dismissed the reports as “gossip from people lacking the integrity to attach their names.” He emphasized that Waltz "serves at the pleasure of President Trump" and continues to have the president’s support.
Source: RT
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