Cnn
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National Security Advisor Mike Waltz is expected to leave the Trump administration in the coming days, two sources familiar with the case in CNN, the first major reshuffle of staff since the president, took office in January.
Waltz’s work was in the limbo after it was clear to him earlier this week than his time leading the National Security Council had ended, according to a source familiar with the issue. Alex Wong, assistant national security advisor and other national security advisers should also leave, according to several familiar sources with conversations, although the timing is not clear.
Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau and even Secretary of State Marco Rubio were launched to replace Waltz on a temporary basis while the president weighs a more permanent replacement, according to a familiar source with the talks.
Steve Witkoff special envoy, a real estate developer and friend of President Donald Trump, is also being studied to replace Waltz as a national security advisor, said a person, although no decision has been made. But Witkoff told people close to him that he did not want work, said two sources close to Witkoff, and they do not plan that he will finally be selected as a replacement of Waltz. However, they warned, he could still take the position if Trump asked directly.
Witkoff led to discussions with Russia and Iran while Trump is looking for international agreements.
“Why would he do that?” Be salted to manage the interagences instead of doing what he does now? ” said a person familiar with Witkoff’s thought.
Waltz was on trembling ground – after losing most of his influence in the western wing – after inadvertently adding a journalist to a group of messaging applications discussing very sensitive military strikes.
Trump had planned to dismiss him after the incident, but refused to do so because he did not want to provide his enemies with a perceived victory, and he hoped to avoid the type of chaos that colored his first administration.
But while Trump stood next to him at the time, Waltz’s position had never really recovered, according to four sources, and he lost weight with superior aid inside the west wing. The Chief of the White House Staff, Susie Wiles, was one of the officials most impressed by the waltz – even before the signal fiasco.
At 100 days after his second term, Trump no longer appears to be concerned about the appearance of the disorder. Several people familiar with the issue have more and more described the potential eviction of Waltz as a question of “when, not so”.
Its internal influence had been declining for weeks, illustrated by Trump’s decision to reject several members of the national security council staff at the request of a far -right activist Laura Loomer, who told her that they were unfair.
The Democrats of Capitol Hill reacted largely to the news by saying that Trump dismissed the bad national security official – saying that the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, deserved the boot more after discussing the bomb targets in Yemen in the reported cat.
“I think they are holding the bad guy responsible,” said Arizona Democratic Senator Mark Kelly, adding that he thought Waltz accidentally included a journalist on signal was an “unhappy error”, but that he found the most disturbing that HegSeth shared “incredibly sensitive information on a strike, putting the pilots at risk.”
But Trump’s thought on Hegseth has greatly deferred the way he considered the waltz after the episode of the signal, according to people familiar with the issue. The president has never been able to go beyond the question of how Waltz invited Jeffrey Goldberg of the Atlantic in the group cat in the first place, say the people familiar with the problem.
Although Trump did not think that Hegseth has exercised a good judgment by sharing the Yemen war plan in at least two group cats, according to familiar people, he thought that his defense secretary should not be rejected after the administration spent so much political capital to confirm it.
Hegseth also has support further outside the administration through Trump’s Maga -inspired movement that Waltz, which was seen with a deep suspicion among the base. In addition, unlike Hegseth, the replacement of Waltz would not imply a confirmation combat of the Senate.
Wiles ordered Hegseth and Pentagon to intensify their performance, offering a warning there is weeks ago that there is “no room for more errors or embarrassment”.
Waltz went on a navy One with Trump on Tuesday, but when his colleagues went up on Air Force One about 10 minutes later, he stayed rather on the Andrews Base Tarmac. An official of the White House said that he should never travel with the president in Michigan, but the move was considered strange by other employees inside the administration.
Asked about the impact of the dismissal of Waltz, several foreign officials – some of which in the Middle East – expressed their apprehension as to which would replace it. Many have said that the impact would all depend on the national security advisor, and many said that his ousting was expected.
“Of all, we never thought he would be the first (to be dismissed),” said a senior Western official.
Behind the scenes, some administration officials had started to discreetly discuss a ramp out of ramp for Waltz in recent days. Trump expressed his frustration towards him on several fronts, including The signal episode. It was also irritated that the Florida Congress race to replace Waltz was closer than expected, two sources familiar with CNN conversations said.
But Thursday, an administration official suggested that the search for a smooth landing point was no longer an absolute priority.
“President Trump lost self -confidence some time ago,” said the source.
Manu Raju contributed to this report.
