United States Vice President JD Vance and senior officials in the Trump administration reportedly urged President Donald Trump to dismiss National Security Adviser Mike Waltz following a security lapse involving the inadvertent disclosure of attack plans for Yemen.
However, according to reports from the states on Sunday, the president declined to take such action.
Sources familiar with a private meeting at the White House on Wednesday night disclosed that Vance, along with Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Personnel Chief Sergio Gor, suggested to Trump that Waltz be removed from his position.
Reports indicate that Trump acknowledged Waltz had "messed up" but refused to sack him.
"Like hell he’d give the liberal media and pearl-clutching Democrats a win," Trump reportedly said.
The security breach, first reported on Monday, occurred when Waltz mistakenly included Jeffrey Goldberg, Editor-in-Chief of The Atlantic, in a confidential Signal chat in which senior administration officials were discussing forthcoming airstrikes on Houthi militants in Yemen.
Also read: Trump officials shared Yemen attack plan with journalist
Waltz has admitted responsibility for the mistake, describing it as "embarrassing" in an interview, attributing it to a technical "glitch."
President Trump, however, has downplayed the issue, dismissing media scrutiny as a "witch hunt" and questioning the reliability of the encrypted messaging platform Signal.
"I don’t fire people because of fake news and because of witch hunts," Trump told reporters on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Waltz's spokesman, Brian Hughes, refuted reports suggesting his dismissal was being considered, dismissing them as "gossip from people lacking the integrity to attach their names."
He emphasised that Waltz "serves at the pleasure of President Trump" and retains the President’s confidence.
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