President Trump is dismissing his national security adviser, Michael Waltz, along with another senior member of the White House foreign policy team, marking the first significant personnel change among top aides in his second term, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Mr. Waltz had been under scrutiny after he organized a group chat on the messaging app Signal to discuss a sensitive military operation in Yemen, inadvertently including a journalist in the conversation.
Many of Mr. Trump’s advisers had already considered Mr. Waltz too hawkish for a president who campaigned on skepticism of American intervention and is keen on reaching a nuclear agreement with Iran and normalizing relations with Russia.
Mr. Waltz’s deputy, Alex Wong, who has experience in dealing with North Korea and is seen as a moderate Republican, is also expected to depart, according to a senior administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Mr. Waltz, a traditional Republican hawk, has been advocating for stringent sanctions against Russia if it does not agree to a cease-fire with Ukraine. He made this recommendation as recently as Monday during a meeting with the president and senior national security officials.
However, Mr. Trump has been hesitant to take any substantial action against Russia, opting instead for mostly symbolic measures, despite occasionally threatening sanctions and tariffs on social media.
Mr. Waltz has faced pressure from external allies of Mr. Trump, including far-right activist Laura Loomer, who urged the president to have Mr. Waltz dismiss several National Security Council staff members for perceived disloyalty.
Since beginning his second term, Mr. Trump has been reluctant to dismiss anyone from cabinet-level positions, aiming to avoid the chaotic headlines that characterized his first term.
In his first term, Mr. Trump terminated his first national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, within four weeks of taking office, citing Mr. Flynn’s dishonesty regarding discussions with the Russian ambassador. Throughout his first term, Mr. Trump cycled through four national security advisers.