Apart from the former Prince Andrew, none of them face claims of sexual wrongdoing. They have been toppled for maintaining friendly relationships with Epstein after he became a convicted sex offender.
Hereâs a look at some of those caught up in the scandal:
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 Waltzâs 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.
In the photo, taken by a Reuters photographer, the names of people Waltz had been texting included Vice President JD Vance, Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and Steve Witkoff, Trump‘s Middle East envoy.
Fox News confirmed Waltz and his deputy, Alex Wong, were ousted Thursday. Sources said additional staffers removed from the office will likely be announced, and President Donald Trump is expected to speak publicly about the matter. (…)
Following confirmation of Waltz‘s ouster, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told Fox News, „The National Security Advisor Waltz is out. Heâs the first. He certainly wonât be the last.“
A notification issued by the Cabinet Division on Tuesday said that Gen Malik would retain his role as DG ISI, a position he has held since September 2024.
âLt Gen Muhammad Asim Malik HI(M), DG (I), shall hold the additional charge of the National Security Adviser, with immediate effect,â the notification stated.
His appointment marks the first time a serving ISI chief will concurrently serve as the NSA.
The NSA position had remained vacant since April 2022, when the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government was ousted.
Waltz, who previously served as a Florida congressman and as a decorated combat Green Beret, has come under fire from Democrats and critics since March, when the Atlantic magazine‘s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg published a firsthand account of getting added to a Signal group chat with top national security leaders, including Waltz, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, while they discussed strikes against Yemen terrorists. Trump and his administration have repeatedly defended the national security leader amid criticisms over the chat leak.
Signal is an encrypted messaging app that operates similarly to texting or making phone calls, but with additional security measures that help ensure communications are kept private to those included in the correspondence.
The statements by Hegseth, Gabbard, Ratcliffe, and Trumpâcombined with the assertions made by numerous administration officials that we are lying about the content of the Signal textsâhave led us to believe that people should see the texts in order to reach their own conclusions. There is a clear public interest in disclosing the sort of information that Trump advisers included in nonsecure communications channels, especially because senior administration figures are attempting to downplay the significance of the messages that were shared. (…)
At 2 p.m., Waltz responded: âTyping too fast. The first target â their top missile guy â we had positive ID of him walking into his girlfriendâs building and itâs now collapsed.â
Vance responded a minute later: âExcellent.â Thirty-five minutes after that, Ratcliffe, the CIA director, wrote, âA good start,â which Waltz followed with a text containing a fist emoji, an American-flag emoji, and a fire emoji.
Ein Journalist des US-Magazins The Atlantic wurde in eine Chatgruppe eingeladen. In der diskutierten 18 hochrangige Vertreter der US-Regierung ĂŒber die Angriffe auf die Huthi-Miliz im Jemen, die nur wenige Stunden darauf ausgefĂŒhrt wurden. Eine Panne, die vor allem bei den Demokraten fĂŒr massive Empörung sorgt, in den Reihen der Republikaner wird abgewiegelt.
According to the lengthy Hegseth text, the first detonations in Yemen would be felt two hours hence, at 1:45 p.m. eastern time. So I waited in my car in a supermarket parking lot. If this Signal chat was real, I reasoned, Houthi targets would soon be bombed. At about 1:55, I checked X and searched Yemen. Explosions were then being heard across Sanaa, the capital city.
I went back to the Signal channel. At 1:48, âMichael Waltzâ had provided the group an update. Again, I wonât quote from this text, except to note that he described the operation as an âamazing job.â A few minutes later, âJohn Ratcliffeâ wrote, âA good start.â Not long after, Waltz responded with three emoji: a fist, an American flag, and fire.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Yuri Ushakov, a foreign policy adviser to President Vladimir Putin, were due to travel to the Saudi capital, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
They will meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, and Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, the State Department said.
As for the Europeans, Kellogg said that he comes from a âschool of realismâ and that looking back at the previous Minsk II agreement, âthere was a lot of people at the table that really had no ability to execute some type of peace process, and it failed miserably.â
US President-elect Donald Trump is expected to tap Senator Marco Rubio to be his secretary of state and Rep. Michael Waltz as national security adviser, The New York Times reported Monday, pushing the emergent cabinet in a hawkish, pro-Israel direction.
The Biden administration was caught off-guard by the decision on Election Day, The Times of Israel cited a U.S. source. âMinister Gallant has been an important partner on all matters related to the defense of Israel. As close partners, we will continue to work collaboratively with Israelâs next minister of defense,â the NSC spokesperson told TOI.
Two U.S. officials told Axios that during a call on Friday White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told Israel‘s minister for strategic affairs Ron Dermer that the U.S. expects „clarity and transparency“ from Israel about its plans to retaliate against Iran because it will have implications for U.S. forces and interests in the region.
In one case, McMaster recalls sidelining Netanyahu about his close relationship with Putin at the Munich Security Conference in 2018, where he voiced frustration at Netanyahu over his âhedging approachâ to Russia.
âPrime Minister, you know that Putin is using a bait and switch – baiting you with the promise to curtail Iranâs presence and influence in Syria while actually enabling Iranâs proxies on your borders,â McMaster said he told Netanyahu, who sat next to him to confer about a speech he would give mentioning Hezbollah.
âNetanyahu smiled and said he had better return to his seat,â McMaster wrote.
After a week of being very careful regarding statements directed at Iran, the US gave Israel something to be satisfied about on Wednesday. US President Joe Biden said Americaâs commitment to Israelâs security, amid the threats from Iran and its proxies, is âironclad.â
Bidenâs statements are aimed directly at Iran, and itâs certainly possible that theyâre the result of a worrying intelligence assessment Israel presented to the US.
(21.03.2024)
Two senior US officials told The Times of Israel on Tuesday that the US will present alternative plans for how Israel can continue pursuing Hamas without launching a major ground operation in Rafah during an upcoming meeting with a visiting Israeli delegation in Washington.
(19.03.2024)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted President Bidenâs invitation to send a senior delegation to Washington, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said, to âhear U.S. concernsâ over Israelâs plans to invade Rafah, the city in southern Gaza where displaced Palestinians are concentrated.
Hamas and Israel have remained silent on the fate of a senior military figure of the Palestinian group after his alleged death was unusually announced by the United States.
During a press conference on Monday, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said: âIsrael has made significant progress against Hamas⊠Hamasâ number three, Marwan Issa, was killed in an operation last week.â
(…)
Issa, 59, is the deputy to Mohammed al-Dief, the general commander of the al-Qassam Brigades, and his right-hand man.
The Biden administration‘s rift with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu became even more acute Sunday, when Vice President Kamala Harris called for a cease-fire in Gaza the day before a controversial meeting with a top Israeli official and longtime Netanyahu rival.
Israeli Cabinet minister Benny Gantz traveled to Washington without the endorsement of Netanyahu, who instructed the Israeli Embassy in the U.S. to withhold assistance in arranging his meetings, Israel Hayom reported.
An official from Netanyahuâs far-right Likud party said Gantzâs trip was planned without authorization from the Israeli leader. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Netanyahu had a âtough talkâ with Gantz and told him the country has âjust one prime minister.â
Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday is hosting a member of Israelâs wartime Cabinet who is visiting Washington in defiance of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Benny Gantz, a centrist political rival of Netanyahu, is sitting down with several senior Biden administration officials this week, including Harris, Secretary of State Antony Blinken,
„The prime minister made it clear to Gantz last night that he does not approve of his trip to Washington. Any official trip abroad by a minister that is not private but rather in an official capacity requires approval from the prime minister,“ the senior figure was quoted as saying.
A statement from Gantz confirmed that he would meet with Harris, as well as with US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Republican and Democratic members of US Congress.