President Trump seriously considered firing national security adviser Mike Waltz over this week’s humiliating Signal chat leak, but cooled down and talked himself out of it — partly to deny his critics the satisfaction, Trump insiders tell Axios.
Why it matters: We’re told Waltz’s job is safe for now. But he has gotten crosswise with several other top officials. “Mike is gonna make it,” a top West Wing insider said. “Now it’s up to Mike to make things better.”
Behind the scenes: Trump officials say he was madder that Waltz had Jeffrey Goldberg’s number in his phone than he was about the exposure of sensitive military strike details. Waltz’s sloppy explanation to Fox News’ Laura Ingraham made things worse.
- Trump was fuming about Tuesday night’s interview, where Waltz said “we’re going to figure out how this happened” — even though he’s the one who mistakenly added Goldberg. (This is the national security version of the “Hot Dog Guy” meme.)
- In Trump’s impulsive first term, Waltz might’ve been fired. This time, Trump didn’t want the media to take a victory lap. As a senior White House official told Axios on Day 1 of the fiasco: “We all know that you don’t give the mob what it wants.”
The intrigue: Waltz has had trouble adjusting to the job. The former Green Beret has gone into an advisory role after being a congressman who’s used to being a star. And he’s surrounded by high-powered officials — Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump’s top foreign policy envoy, Steve Witkoff.
- Vance and Waltz both visited Greenland yesterday. On the plane ride back, Vance counseled Waltz about “knowing his place” and “working more collaboratively,” a top official said.
- Rubio is among those who have had frustrations with Waltz.
The big picture: Some America First celebrities, including Tucker Carlson and Steve Bannon, have long been suspicious of Waltz’s neocon roots. And Trump’s inner circle doesn’t like some of his hires.
- Steve Bannon texted that Waltz kept his job because “we hate the globalist media even more than we hate neocons.”