Asiye Latife Yilmaz
25 March 2025•Update: 25 March 2025
ISTANBUL
The future of the US national security adviser is in doubt after the accidental inclusion of a journalist in secret war plan discussions spurred high-level discussions within the White House about his possible removal, Politico reported.
Mike Waltz mistakenly disclosed classified plans to attack Yemen’s Houthis by adding The Atlantic magazine's Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg to a chat with top officials using the commercially available Signal app, according to the journalist’s report and as confirmed by the White House.
A senior administration official told Politico on Monday that multiple discussions are underway on how to handle the situation.
“Half of them saying he’s never going to survive or shouldn’t survive,” the official said, adding that two senior White House aides have suggested Waltz should resign to avoid putting the president in a "bad position."
“It was reckless not to check who was on the thread. It was reckless to be having that conversation on Signal. You can’t have recklessness as the national security adviser,” the official added.
A source familiar with the situation said US President Donald Trump has spoken to Waltz about the issue and that the White House continues to back him.
Two officials told Politico that while Trump might hold Waltz responsible for jeopardizing US national security, he could also be frustrated with Vice President JD Vance for diverging from the administration’s foreign policy or with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for allegedly sharing sensitive details in the chat. Vance and Hegseth were also part of the Signal chat.
“As President Trump said, the attacks on the Houthis have been highly successful and effective. President Trump continues to have the utmost confidence in his national security team, including National Security Adviser Mike Waltz,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
The clumsy handling of the secret war plans has also drawn fire from Democrats, some of whom quoted Trump and figures who were in the chat as saying that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton should have been fired for her mishandling of government emails.
