CBS News is reporting Thursday that National security adviser Mike Waltz and his deputy, Alex Wong, will be leaving their posts in the Trump White House. CBS says that comes from multiple sources familiar with their departure.
They are expected to leave Thursday, sources say. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Waltz was under fire after a March Signal app chat was mistakenly sent to a reporter, The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg. The chat on the app, which is not approved for classified information, disclosed discussions around plans for a military strike on Houthi targets in Yemen.
Goldberg published the account later in The Atlantic initially leaving out details of the operation, but later published that as well after several top White House officials including Waltz denied classified information was shared. That includes Minnesota-native and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has since come under scrutiny for his own Signal chat messages shared with his wife, brother, lawyer and others.
There were reports at the time Trump was considering replacing Hegseth, but so far he has only backed the Defense Secretary.
The messages have included the timing of the strikes and the weapons packages used.
Waltz admitted behind closed doors the authenticity of the reporting, and CBS says White House officials debated whether he should resign.
Waltz never made the offer, President Trump did not ask him to step down at the time, instead defending Waltz by calling him "a good man" who "learned a lesson."
According to the CBS report, one source familiar with the situation said the president thinks sufficient time has passed since the Signal incident that Waltz and Wong's departures can be framed as part of a reorganization.
The president has been hesitant to oust Waltz over the perception that doing so could be seen as bending to outside pressure.
As for what is next when it comes to national security? CBS News' Senior Foreign Affairs Correspondent Margaret Brennan says her understanding is that it is actually going to some policy divides and some frustration on a personal level with Waltz and Wong, as opposed to the issues with Signal.
"There has been a divide between those who are conservative in their view as to how to handle Iran and its developing nuclear program in particular from those who want to go with this kind of isolationist, non-interventionist attempt at diplomacy which looks a lot like reviving that Obama era nuclear deal from back in 2015," Brennan says. "That contingent is being led right now by President Trump's ally Steve Witkoff, his longtime personal friend, and that personal friend is also at the tip of the spear when it comes to all active diplomacy right now when it comes to Russia and Ukraine, when it comes to Iran, when it comes to Gaza. He also does not have that background in intelligence, military, or national security space."