U.S. President Donald Trump has dismissed the leadership of the National Security Agency, including Director Timothy Ho, his deputy Wendy Noble, and several high-ranking officials responsible for intelligence, legislative affairs, and technology. This was reported by CBS and CNN, citing sources.
According to the media, the reason for these decisions was an appeal from right-wing activist Laura Loomer. She presented Trump with the results of her own investigation, in which she accused the dismissed officials of holding neoconservative views and lacking sufficient loyalty to the president.
Neoconservatism is associated with the policies of George W. Bush’s era, including active U.S. intervention in other countries’ affairs. Trump himself stated that the dismissals were not related to this meeting. According to him, the personnel changes were based on job performance and personal loyalty:
We will always fire people we don’t like, who aren’t doing their job, or who are loyal to someone else.
It was also reported that Loomer recommended the president dismiss two more senior officials from the National Security Council — Alex Wong and Michael Waltz. The latter was at the center of a scandal involving a leak from the Signal messenger. A decision on his dismissal has not yet been made.
