'Mike Waltz Has Left the Chat': Trump Ousts National Security Adviser Amid Signalgate

U.S. National Security Adviser Michael Waltz and a top deputy have been fired from the Trump administration, with more dismissals expected imminently in the wake of the "Signalgate" scandal, insiders familiar with the decision told multiple major media outlets on Thursday.

Fox News confirmed that Waltz and his deputy Alex Wong were fired Thursday, and that more staffers are likely to be terminated. Calls for Waltz's resignation mounted amid revelations that the former Republican congressman and members of his staff created at least 20 group chats on the encrypted messaging application Signal to coordinate official work on sensitive foreign policy issues.

"Waltz's firing is just the beginning of the overdue accountability that the American people."

In one of the most egregious incidents of the scandal, Waltz, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and other top Trump administration officials added a journalist to a Signal group chat about plans to bomb Yemen.

"I take full responsibility. I built the group," Waltz acknowledged in a March 25 Fox News interview. "It's embarrassing. We're going to get to the bottom of it."

It was later revealed that Hegseth shared Yemen war plans in a second private group chat whose members included relatives and his personal lawyer.

It is unclear who will replace Waltz. Steve Witkoff—President Donald Trump's special envoy to the Middle East—is considered a top contender for the job.

Trump publicly defended Waltz and his national security team throughout the scandal, telling reporters last month that they've "had big success with the Houthis," the Yemeni rebel group targeted by U.S.-led airstrikes that have killed and wounded hundreds of people, reportedly including more than 150 civilians and scores of African migrants at a detention center.

Waltz appeared on Fox News' "Fox and Friends" just hours before he was sacked, lavishing praise upon Trump and Hegseth:

Responding to Waltz's ouster, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) took a sardonic swipe at Hegseth on social media.

"Pete Hegseth shows real leadership by passing the blame to Mike Waltz," she wrote. "Was it Waltz who set up Signal on Hegseth's office computer and added his wife, brother, and lawyer in a war plan group chat?"

Democratic strategist Mike Nellis also zeroed in on the defense secretary, writing on the social media site X that "firing Waltz is an admission of guilt by the administration about the leaking of classified war plans."

"They have to fire Hegseth now—especially after he leaked to his wife, brother, and personal attorney," Nellis added. "Complete shitshow."

Sean Vitka, executive director of the online activist group Demand Progress, said that Waltz' firing underscores the need for a Signalgate probe—which Republicans in the House of Representatives blocked on Tuesday.

"Waltz, and Defense Secretary Hegseth, put our service members and national security at risk by recklessly chatting about imminent military plans on channels that could have been spied on by foreign adversaries—channels that Waltz compromised with his incompetence," Vitka continued.

"Waltz's firing is just the beginning of the overdue accountability that the American people, including our men and women in uniform, deserve," he added. "Congress must demand answers about how our military was exposed like this, and why."

Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who was former Vice President Kamala Harris' 2024 running mate, responded to Waltz's dismissal in six words on social media.

"Mike Waltz has left the chat," he said.