Donald Trump promised America First foreign policy during his campaign.
Now he’s making good on that promise by removing officials who don’t align with his vision.
And Trump just removed a top advisor over this major disagreement.
President Trump has ousted National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Deputy National Security Advisor Alex Wong in a move that signals a significant shift in the administration’s approach toward Iran and the broader Middle East strategy.
While the White House officially attributes the firing to the embarrassing Signal chat leak scandal from March, sources close to the administration suggest the real friction centered on Waltz’s increasingly hawkish stance on Iran – a position that clashed with Trump’s campaign promises to avoid new foreign entanglements.
The timing of Waltz’s removal, coming just after Trump’s 100-day mark in office, suggests the President is reasserting control over his foreign policy agenda and removing obstacles to his America First vision.
During his campaign, Trump repeatedly criticized endless wars in the Middle East and promised voters he would focus on American interests rather than foreign interventions.
A decorated combat Green Beret, Waltz had reportedly been pushing for more aggressive measures against Iran in recent national security meetings, advocating expanded military operations beyond the limited strikes against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.
The Signal chat leak – where The Atlantic’s Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg was accidentally added to a group chat discussing military operations against Houthis – provided a convenient pretext for removing an advisor whose vision for Middle East policy had begun diverging from the President’s.
“I take full responsibility. I built the group, it’s embarrassing. We’re going to get to the bottom of it,” Waltz told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham after the leak, likely unaware that his days in the administration were already numbered.
President Trump had offered hints about his willingness to part ways with officials who weren’t fully aligned with his agenda when he told reporters in early April, “Always, we’re going to let go of people we don’t like, or people we don’t think can do the job, or people who may have loyalties to somebody else.”
The Yemen strikes discussed in the leaked chat represented a limited military response to protect shipping interests in the Red Sea, but inside sources suggest Waltz had been advocating for a broader regional strategy that would have potentially put American forces in direct conflict with Iran.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries commented on the news, telling Fox News, “The National Security Advisor Waltz is out. He’s the first. He certainly won’t be the last.”
While Jeffries meant this as criticism, his prediction aligns with expectations that Trump will continue removing officials who don’t fully embrace his America First approach to foreign policy.
The White House had previously claimed the matter was settled, with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt telling reporters in March that the Signal chat leak case was “closed” and that “Mike Waltz continues to be an important part of his national security team.”
She had added that “the president and Mike Waltz and his entire national security team have been working together very well, if you look at how much safer the United States of America is because of the leadership of this team.”
But behind the scenes, tensions were mounting over how to handle Iran and its proxies throughout the Middle East.
During the 2024 campaign, Trump repeatedly criticized the Biden administration for what he called a “weak” approach to Iran while simultaneously promising voters he would keep America out of new foreign conflicts.
Striking this balance – projecting strength while avoiding escalation – appears to be central to Trump’s second-term strategy.
Waltz, who previously served as a Florida congressman before joining the administration, brought a traditional Republican hawk perspective to national security discussions that increasingly clashed with Trump’s more selective approach to military engagement.
While the administration continues to maintain that no classified information was shared in the infamous Signal chat, the security breach provided a convenient opportunity to reset the national security team with officials more closely aligned with Trump’s vision.
The Yemen strikes discussed in the Signal group chat – which eventually took place on March 15 – were described by the White House as actions taken by President Trump “to defend U.S. shipping assets and deter terrorist threats.”
But according to sources familiar with the internal debates, Waltz had advocated for broader operations that would have potentially expanded American military involvement in the region, directly contradicting Trump’s campaign message.
When asked about reports of Waltz’s impending removal earlier this week, Press Secretary Leavitt had told Fox News Digital, “We are not going to respond to reporting from anonymous sources.”
Now that the removal is confirmed, attention turns to who Trump will select as Waltz’s replacement – with all signs pointing to someone who will more faithfully implement the America First foreign policy that resonated so strongly with voters in 2024.
This staff shakeup represents the most significant personnel change in Trump’s second term so far and sends a clear message throughout the administration that alignment with the President’s foreign policy vision is non-negotiable.
