The future of the US National Security Advisor after the leak of sensitive war plans

Mr. Michael Waltz at the Republican National Convention (USA) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 17, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/TTXVN

According to Politico, although no official decision has been made, White House officials said President Donald Trump will make a decision in the next one to two days after monitoring the reactions related to this incident.

Earlier, on the afternoon of March 24, a senior administration official told Politico that they were discussing via text messages with other colleagues how to handle Mr. Waltz’s situation. The incident erupted after Mr. Waltz accidentally brought The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, into a conversation on the messaging app Signal, where US officials discussed a military strike on the Houthi group.

“Half of them thought Waltz couldn’t do the job or shouldn’t do it,” said one unnamed official. Two senior White House aides even suggested that Waltz resign to avoid putting the president in an “awkward position.”

“It was reckless not to vet who was in the conversation,” one of the officials said. “It was reckless to discuss such an important issue over Signal. He couldn’t take that risk as national security adviser.”

The incident began when Mr. Goldberg received a request to join a Signal chat group from Mr. Mike Waltz on March 11. Mr. Goldberg was then placed in the “Houthi PC Small Group” with other senior administration officials, including Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and several others.

A source said President Trump has spoken to Mr. Waltz about the incident and the White House is standing by him. “As President Trump has said, the strikes on the Houthis were very successful and effective,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. “President Trump has full confidence in his national security team, including Mr. Waltz.”

The White House press office declined to comment further on the matter.

US President Donald Trump speaks at an event at the White House, March 24, 2025. Photo: THX/TTXVN

Another White House official said they were aware of the pressure on Mr. Waltz to admit wrongdoing, which could lead to his resignation. But the official also noted that Mr. Waltz’s future would depend on how President Trump personally felt about the incident and the involvement of other officials in the conversation.

Two officials said President Trump may have been unhappy that Mr. Waltz had compromised national security, or he may have been frustrated with Mr. Vance for crossing the administration’s foreign policy line in the conversation, or criticized Mr. Hegseth for allegedly sharing sensitive information.

Meanwhile, Mr. Waltz’s critics, especially isolationist conservatives, have raised doubts about his neoconservative ties, pointing to the fact that Mr. Waltz kept Mr. Goldberg’s phone number as evidence that he still supports neoconservative trends.

The incident has also raised concerns in Congress . Representative Don Bacon, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said it was “unconscionable” to share sensitive information over an unsecured network. Senator Roger Wicker, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, also expressed concern and said his committee would review the incident.

In particular, the criticism from members of the defense hawks is notable, as they see Mr. Waltz as a supporter of President Trump’s “America First” policy.

But sources close to the White House do not expect the incident to have major political consequences. “I don’t think it’s a big deal for the president or the administration, other than the possibility of Waltz losing his job,” one official said.

Still, some Republicans on Capitol Hill are hopeful that Waltz will keep his job. “He absolutely should not resign,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said. “He is competent and has the confidence.”

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/the-gioi/tuong-lai-cua-co-van-an-ninh-quoc-gia-my-sau-vu-lo-ke-hoach-chien-tranh-nhay-cam-20250325113731367.htm