Trump Was Reportedly Pissed at Ousted Mike Waltz Even Before ‘SignalGate’ Fiasco – Over Private Meetings
Pool via AP
President Donald Trump’s decision to oust National Security Adviser Mike Waltz this week came after months of growing tension, according to a report published Saturday by The Washington Post.
While Waltz’s inadvertent addition of a journalist to a Signal group chat discussing military plans reportedly triggered the final decision, two sources told the Post that Trump had been frustrated with Waltz over foreign policy for months.
One of those moves, per the Post’s sources, was private discussions between Waltz and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“It got back to Trump and the president wasn’t happy with it,” one official said.
The former national security adviser was said to have talked of military action against Iran, which angered Trump well before “SignalGate.”
President Donald Trump’s decision to oust his national security adviser, Michael Waltz, was the product of a slow accumulation of frustration with a former Green Beret officer who was seen as far more eager to use military force than his boss in the Oval Office.
Waltz’s fate was sealed by his inclusion of a journalist on a sensitive Signal group chat in March. But he had been clashing with other top officials since early in the administration, including over whether to pursue military action against Iran, senior officials and Trump advisers said Friday.
According to the Post, Waltz worked himself out of a job over time, with one strike against him being his communications with Israeli leadership.
“But Waltz also upset Trump after an Oval Office visit in early February by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, when the national security adviser appeared to share the Israeli leader’s conviction that the time was ripe to strike Iran,” the newspaper reported.
The report added, “Waltz appeared to have engaged in intense coordination with Netanyahu about military options against Iran ahead of an Oval Office meeting between the Israeli leader and Trump, the two people said.”
The Post also reported that Waltz clashed repeatedly with top members of the administration, including White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, over his hawkishness.
On Thursday, Trump announced that Secretary of State Marco Rubio would serve as interim National Security Adviser.
Trump has nominated Waltz to serve as the US ambassador to the United Nations.
Read more from The Washington Post here.
