Scoop: Multiple firings on Trump's National Security Council after Loomer visit
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Mike Waltz at the White House. Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Several members of President Trump's embattled National Security Council have been fired, a U.S. official and a second source familiar told Axios on Thursday.
Why it matters: The firings come a day after conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer visited the Oval Office and pressed Trump to fire specific NSC staffers. Axios has not confirmed whether the firings were directly linked to that incident, but the source familiar said they were "being labeled as an anti-neocon move."
Driving the news: In a conversation with reporters on Air Force One on Thursday, Trump confirmed the firings at the National Security Council.
- "We're always going to let go of people — people we don't like or people that take advantage of [us] or people that may have loyalties to someone else," he said.
- Trump praised Loomer and said "she makes recommendations ... and sometimes I listen to those recommendations ... I listen to everybody and then I make a decision."
- Trump said Loomer recommended some people for jobs at the White House but denied she had anything to do with the firings.
Behind the scenes: The U.S. official said Loomer was furious that "neocons" had "slipped through" the vetting process for administration jobs, referring to hawkish foreign policy views commonly associated with the Bush administration.
- "She went to the White House yesterday and presented them with her research and evidence," the official said. Loomer's visit was reported earlier by Status and The New York Times. The official suspected that the firings were linked to Loomer's visit but was not certain.
- The U.S. official named three senior NSC members who had been fired, and said it was shaping up to be a "bloodbath." Axios is seeking additional confirmation before naming those people.
- The source familiar said several people had been fired, possibly as many as 10, including senior directors. An NSC spokesperson declined to comment.
State of play: Axios has not confirmed whether any of the individuals let go were in any way connected to the separate controversy about the use of Signal and private email accounts by national security adviser Michael Waltz and NSC staff to discuss sensitive information.
- Waltz had accidentally added The Atlantic's editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, whom Trump allies have labeled a "neocon," to a Signal chat about military strikes in Yemen.
- Trump considered firing Waltz at the height of the "Signalgate" scandal but ultimately decided to keep him and deny his critics a scalp, Axios' Marc Caputo and Mike Allen reported.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with President Trump's comments on Thursday.
