Trump's next national security adviser will be his sixth
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Even for a president known for cycling through staff, the national security adviser role is particularly prone to turnover.
The big picture: President Trump's first national security adviser quickly resigned and later ended up in court. His next two clashed with him while in office and harshly criticized him afterwards. Now the fifth, Michael Waltz, is on his way out the door.
Driving the news: Waltz clashed with multiple key Trumpworld figures, and his internal standing was diminished after the "Signalgate" affair, Axios' Marc Caputo and Barak Ravid report.
- Rather than firing him, as many expected, Trump nominated Waltz to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, he announced on Thursday afternoon.
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio will fill the national security adviser role on an interim basis.
Context: Former President Biden had just one national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, throughout his term.
- Barack Obama had three over the course of eight years, while George W. Bush and Bill Clinton each had two.
Read more about Trump's five advisers:
Michael Flynn
- Jan. 20, 2017 to Feb. 13, 2017
Flynn served as Trump's first national security adviser for less than a month in 2017.
- He was fired for lying to former Vice President Mike Pence.
- He also twice pleaded guilty to charges from the Robert Mueller's special counsel investigation.
Yes, but: Trump pardoned Flynn in 2020. The retired general has resurfaced as a prominent MAGA-world voice and frequent conspiracy theorist.
H.R. McMaster
- Feb. 20, 2017 to April 9, 2018
McMaster's departure was less dramatic than Flynn's, but he has since publicly criticized Trump.
- The pair's personalities never meshed.
- "Personal chemistry is the most powerful currency with Trump — more than ideology, perhaps even more than loyalty," a White House official told Axios at the time. "McMaster never had it."
Context: McMaster was a three-star lieutenant general in the U.S. Army and the first active duty military officer to serve in the national security adviser position since the Reagan administration.
John Bolton
- April 9, 2018 to Sept. 10, 2019
Bolton was one of Trump's most hawkish foreign policy advisers. He stepped aside over escalating tensions with the president.
- Bolton was resistant to peace talks with the Taliban and Trump's later-scrapped desire to host the the militants at Camp David.
- He also had differing views to Trump on engagement with North Korea and military operations in Syria.
State of play: He outwardly criticized Trump shortly after his tenure in the administration, and even more scathingly after his re-election.
- Days into his new term, Trump stripped security protections from Bolton even though he has faced death threats from Iran.
Robert O'Brien
- Sept. 18, 2019 to Jan. 20, 2021
O'Brien was Trump's longest-serving national security adviser and had easily the least tumultuous tenure so far.
- He was previously Trump's hostage envoy.
The latest: Following the 2024 election, O'Brien on a short list of potential candidates to be the new administration's secretary of state, a role later filled by Rubio.
Michael Waltz
- Jan. 20, 2025 to May 1, 2025
Waltz departure comes about a month after he inadvertently included a journalist in a Signal chat discussing sensitive details about a strike in Yemen.
- He served less than four months in the job.
- Besides Signalgate, Waltz didn't work well with other officials in the administration, like chief of staff Susie Wiles, and was distrusted by outside voices like pro-Trump conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer.
Go deeper: Why Trump's White House turned on Mike Waltz
