Trump Fires National Security Officials Day After Meeting With Far-Right Activist Laura Loomer

<p>The White House fired “some” administration officials, including at least three National Security Council staffers, US President Donald Trump said Thursday. The development comes following a meeting between Trump and far-right activist Laura Loomer on Wednesday.</p>
<p>”Always, we&rsquo;re going to let go of people &ndash; people that we don&rsquo;t like, or people that we don&rsquo;t think can do the job, or people that may have loyalties to someone else,” Trump said aboard Air Force One, stressing that he will get rid of any staff who is deemed to be disloyal.&nbsp;</p>
<p>However, he said Loomer was not involved in Wednesday&rsquo;s firings, calling her “a very good patriot.”&nbsp;</p>
<p>According to media reports, Loomer had urged Trump to fire specific employees whom she alleged lacked support for the President’s agenda. She is believed to have compiled a list of around 12 names and urged Trump during their Wednesday meeting of gettig rid of several NSC staff members, including his principal deputy national security adviser, claiming that they are disloyal, CNN reported.</p>
<p>The far-right activist, who once claimed 9/11 was an inside job, was an influential voice around Trump during his 2024 campaign last fall.</p>
<p>The three officials fired include Brian Walsh, a director for intelligence and a former top staffer for now-Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the Senate Intelligence Committee; Thomas Boodry, a senior director for legislative affairs who served as Waltz&rsquo;s legislative director in Congress; and David Feith, a senior director overseeing technology and national security who served in the State Department during Trump&rsquo;s first administration, the report noted.</p>
<p>”NSC doesn&rsquo;t comment on personnel matters,” NSC spokesman Brian Hughes said in a statement to CNN.</p>
<p>The firings also follow a major row involving senior NSC officials sharing&nbsp; sensitive information regarding an impending US attack on Houthi rebels in Yemen on a Signal chat group, where a journalist was inadvertently added.</p>
<p>So far, Trump has stood by senior officials involved in the controversy, including National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, who took responsibility for the Atlantic magazine chief editor being added to the Signal chat, calling it an accident.</p>
<p>Principal Deputy National Security Adviser Alex Wong was also not among those who had been fired on Wednesday. However, Wong could be out as soon as today, CNN reported citing one White House official.</p>
<p><strong>ALSO READ: <a href=”https://news.abplive.com/news/world/secret-russian-military-satellites-launch-mysterious-object-into-space-report-1762791″>’Secret Russian Military Satellites’ Launch ‘Mysterious’ Object Into Space: Report</a></strong></p>
<h3>Trump Praises Loomer</h3>
<p>Trump heaped praises at Loomer on Thursday, saying that while she has previously recommended firing people, “yesterday, she recommended some people for jobs.”</p>
<p>”She is a very strong person, and I saw her yesterday for a little while and she has her, she makes recommendations of things and people,” Trump said. “And sometimes I listen to those recommendations, like I do with everybody, I listen to everybody, and then I make a decision.”</p>
<p>Loomer did not provide the details on her meeting with Trump but said she would “continue reiterating the importance of strong vetting.”</p>
<p>”Out of respect for President Trump and the privacy of the Oval Office, I&rsquo;m going to decline on divulging any details about my Oval Office meeting with President Trump,” Loomer told CNN earlier Thursday.</p>
<p>”It was an honor to meet with President Trump and present him with my findings, I will continue working hard to support his agenda, and I will continue reiterating the importance of strong vetting, for the sake of protecting the President and our national security,” she added.</p>
<p>Trump’s oval Office meeting with Loomer was first reported by The New York Times, and was held as the president and his economic team were preparing for the announcement of tariffs in the Rose Garden.</p>
<p>According to CNN, Waltz was present in the Oval Office for other meetings when Loomer arrived to meet Trump and stayed as the US president met with her. The report says that although Trump has been backing Waltz in public, White House plans on firing him.&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>ALSO READ: <a href=”https://news.abplive.com/news/india/waqf-amendment-bill-congress-to-challenge-bill-in-supreme-court-1762797″>Congress To Move Supreme Court ‘Very Soon’ Challenging Waqf Amendment Bill</a></strong></p>