Donald Trump’s national security adviser Mike Waltz is leaving his role, according to reports. Waltz added a journalist to a Signal chat with Trump officials about military plans and admitted the leak was „embarrassing“. The president is appearing at the White House shortly – watch below.
Thursday 1 May 2025 17:41, UK
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Some analysis from our colleagues at Sky’s US partner network NBC News now, who have spotted a notable omission from Donald Trump’s speech in the White House Rose Garden just now – which continues in the stream at the top of this page.
The president notably did not mention Mike Waltz during his remarks, amid reports the national security adviser has left his role in Trump’s government.
Trump acknowledged many other Cabinet officials, including those whom he did not believe were in attendance at the breakfast event.
Donald Trump has repeated his usual claim that the US presidential election in 2020, which he lost to Joe Biden, was „rigged“.
But the president quickly pointed to how he’s now in power for another term.
He said in his Rose Garden speech just now: „So this is going to be really four years of celebration, so get ready, and we’re going to always bring God with us, we’re going to bring God to those celebrations, we are not going to forget about God.“
He said his administration is one „that’s going to make you proud again, it’s going to make you believe and believe more again, and we’re going to have a country that’s very strong“.
„We’re already, in just 100 days, we’re respected all over the world,“ he added.
The 78-year-old Republican went on to say that in the years preceding his second term, there was „no respect for our country“.
„Pete Hegseth is doing a fantastic job“, Donald Trump said just now in the Rose Garden.
He praised his defence secretary along with a series of other senior administration officials, including secretary of state Marco Rubio.
The praise for them came after reports Mike Waltz is leaving his post as Trump’s national security adviser.
Waltz recently took responsibility for inadvertently adding a journalist to a highly sensitive chat on Signal earlier this year.
The chat also included Hegseth – who shared timings of US airstrikes, which could have put American military personnel at risk if leaked.
Separately, Hegseth shared messages on Signal with his wife and brother about military strikes.
But Trump’s backing for his defence secretary seems firm.
US President Donald Trump has started speaking in the Rose Garden at the White House.
You can watch his remarks in the stream at the top of this page.
We will also be listening along as he addresses the crowds on America’s national day of prayer, and we’ll post any important updates here.
The security of messaging app Signal was compromised by human error when top US officials accidentally added a journalist to their group chat.
The blame was directed at Mike Waltz – who seems to be leaving his post as Trump’s national security adviser.
He wasn’t the only official to blame, though. Pete Hegseth, Trump’s defence secretary, has since been linked to another Signal security breach, too.
But what is Signal? And why is it potentially dangerous for top officials in Trump’s government to use it for sensitive information?
Read our explainer on the app below from back in March…
While there was a „a slew of people being fired or resigning“ during Donald Trump’s first administration, the US president has been „very keen“ that his first months in office appeared „blemish-free“, our international affairs editor Dominic Waghorn says.
Discussing the first high-profile casualty of Trump’s second administration, Waghorn says : „I think Donald Trump this time round has been very keen that the first 100 days of his second term in office would be as blemish-free as possible.“
Waghorn said Trump has surrounded himself with people who „very much agree with what he says and show their loyalty“.
He said loyalty was a „crucial quality that Donald Trump looks for now in lieutenants and people in his administration, people who are loyal and therefore less likely to cause him the kind of anger and frustration and resentments that led him arguably to firing a number of people in the first term in office“.
He adds: „I think he has decided in his first 100 days to not have anything that looked like the chaos of the first time round.“
The sackings in Trump’s first administration began after less than two weeks when Sally Yates was dismissed as acting attorney general. National security adviser Michael Flynn quit less than a month after the inauguration.
Kamala Harris’s running mate saw an open goal and has taken it.
He’s just been on X after reports Mike Waltz is leaving his post as Donald Trump’s national security adviser…
We’re still waiting for Donald Trump to speak at an event marking the national day of prayer.
A reminder, you can watch along in the stream at the top of this live page and we’ll be bringing you text updates.
While Mike Waltz only lasted 102 days in his post, some Trump officials of days gone by didn’t even make it to the second week.
Anthony Scaramucci was fired after 10 days in his post as communications director in July 2017 during Trump’s first administration.
Trump decided to remove Scaramucci after he described then White House chief of staff Reince Priebus as a „paranoid schizophrenic“ to a journalist from The New Yorker magazine.
Mike Waltz previously took „full responsibility“ for Signalgate – but what else did he say about his involvement in the leak?
Donald Trump’s national security adviser, who is reportedly leaving his post, confirmed to Fox News that he built the group on the messaging app – adding Trump officials and the Atlantic editor-in-chief – and called the leak „embarrassing“.
„We’ve got the best technical minds looking at how this happened,“ he said, adding that editor Jeffrey Goldberg’s number had not been on his phone.
„I can tell you for 100% I don’t know this guy.“
When pressed further on how this could have happened, he told Fox News „if you have somebody else’s contact, then somehow it… gets sucked in. It gets sucked in.“
Read more below in our explainer from the time about what was said in the compromised Signal group…
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Trump latest: Mike Waltz leaving post at White House, reports say – hours after TV appearance – Sky News
