Mike Waltz is an advisor to Donald Trump who recently announced his resignation, along with his deputy, Alex Wong. Waltz joined the Trump administration after six years in Congress representing a district in Florida. Before that, he was a Green Beret in the Army and completed multiple missions in Afghanistan. As a national security advisor, he was responsible for coordinating foreign policy at the White House and briefing the president on global crises.
According to a report from CBS News, Waltz and Wong's resignation has been surprising to many, as they were considered two of Trump's top advisors. Although White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt declined to respond to reports from anonymous sources, Waltz's replacement could be Steve Witkoff, an old friend of Trump.
Criticism of Mike Waltz intensified after it was revealed that he had mistakenly added The Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg to a Signal chat group where plans for pending attacks against Houthi rebels in Yemen were being discussed. This incident generated controversy, especially among Democrats, who began calling for Waltz's resignation.
Despite the criticisms, Trump offered a lukewarm defense of Waltz in an interview with The Atlantic. He recalled the case of his first national security advisor, retired General Michael Flynn, who resigned after it was revealed that he misled then-Vice President Mike Pence about his communications with the Russian ambassador in the U.S. In this context, Trump stated that Waltz "is doing fine" prior to his resignation.
