President Donald Trump has dismissed several senior officials from the National Security Council (NSC) following an Oval Office meeting with controversial activist Laura Loomer. During yesterday’s meeting, first reported Thursday, Loomer presented a list of individuals she claimed were insufficiently loyal to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” agenda.
Among those removed are David Feith, senior director for technology and national security, and Brian Walsh, senior director for intelligence matters.
Loomer urged the removal of NSC staffers she deemed disloyal. While it’s unclear if her recommendations directly led to the firings, sources describe the action as part of an “anti-neocon” effort targeting officials associated with hawkish foreign policy views.
According to Axios reporters Barak Ravid and Dave Lawler, up to 10 people were unceremoniously dismissed.
Behind the scenes: The U.S. official said Loomer was furious that “neocons” had “slipped through” the vetting process for administration jobs, referring to hawkish foreign policy views commonly associated with the Bush administration.
“She went to the White House yesterday and presented them with her research and evidence,” the official said. Loomer’s visit was reported earlier by Status and The New York Times. The official suspected that the firings were linked to Loomer’s visit but was not certain.
The Oval Office discussion included Vice President JD Vance, Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and Presidential Personnel Director Sergio Gor. Loomer emphasized the need for strong loyalty within the national security team.
The firings follow recent issues within the NSC, including National Security Adviser Mike Waltz’s accidental inclusion of a left-wing journalist in a secure chat about military operations in Yemen, raising concerns about operational security.
Axios continues:
State of play: Axios has not confirmed whether any of the individuals let go were in any way connected to the separate controversy about the use of Signal and private email accounts by national security adviser Michael Waltz and NSC staff to discuss sensitive information.
Trump considered firing Waltz at the height of the “Signalgate” scandal but ultimately decided to keep him and deny his critics a scalp, Axios’ Marc Caputo and Mike Allen reported.
Loomer has promoted the conspiracy theory that the 9/11 attacks were an “inside job,” suggesting that the Bush administration had prior knowledge of the events. In a June 2023 social media post, she shared a video with the caption “9/11 was an Inside Job!” and implied that the attacks were linked to then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s announcement about $2.3 trillion in unaccounted funds the day before 9/11.
The White House has not issued an official statement regarding these personnel changes.
