National Security Adviser Mike Waltz to Step Down

It looks like Mike Waltz will be the first high-level head to roll in the second Trump administration. As the Wall Street Journal reports, the national security adviser is being removed from his job about a month after Signalgate, in which Waltz inadvertently added a reporter to a high-level group chat about military strikes in Yemen, broke. Also joining Waltz on the chopping block will be his deputy, Alex Wong, per reports. Politico, citing White House sources, reports that names for his potential successor have been floated for weeks.

Per CBS News, "One source familiar with the situation at the National Security Council said the president thinks sufficient time has passed since the Signal incident that Waltz and Wong's departures can be framed as part of a reorganization," rather than bowing to the court of public opinion. The Journal adds that Waltz had fallen on the wrong side of Trump's favor even prior to Signalgate, with MAGA-unfriendly hires, out-of-step messaging, and clashes with other high-level White House aides. The White House had no substantive comment on the reports, but Waltz and Wong are expected to leave Thursday. (More Trump administration stories.)