EXCLUSIVE: Inside Waltz’s Ouster: Before Signalgate, Talks With Israel Angered Trump

Mike Waltz — Susie Wiles, White House chief of staff, and Michael Waltz, when he was still President Donald Trump's national security adviser, in the Oval Office in April. (Al Drago/For The Washington Post)

By Michael Birnbaum, John Hudson, Emily Davies, Sarah Ellison and Natalie Allison

President Donald Trump’s decision to oust his national security adviser, Michael Waltz, was the product of a slow accumulation of frustration with a former Green Beret officer who was seen as far more eager to use military force than his boss in the Oval Office.

Waltz’s fate was sealed by his inclusion of a journalist on a sensitive Signal group chat in March. But he had been clashing with other top officials since early in the administration, including over whether to pursue military action against Iran, senior officials and Trump advisers said Friday.

The episode has left some senior White House officials questioning the need for a traditional National Security Council and content to leave Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whom Trump on Thursday named as Waltz’s interim replacement, in a caretaker role for quite some time — a decision that will likely diminish an institution that has had a powerful role in shaping the foreign policy of modern presidencies. And it sidelines a key figure in the White House with a long track record of favoring military intervention, officials said. Trump has nominated Waltz to be his ambassador to the United Nations, so he will remain in government.

Waltz’s troubles built up over time, and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles increasingly felt he was not a good fit for the president, according to a senior White House official, a Trump adviser and one additional person familiar with the matter on Friday. They and others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal personnel considerations.

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