One of the candidates to replace Michael Waltz as U.S. National Security Advisor following his possible dismissal is Steve Witkoff, according to Politico, which cited three sources.
According to the publication, the replacement of Waltz has been under discussion in the White House for several weeks, but conversations have intensified in recent days. It remains unclear who will ultimately succeed Waltz if he is removed.
“According to three people familiar with the decision to dismiss Waltz, the leading candidate at the moment is Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, who is currently conducting negotiations with Russia, Iran, and Hamas in Gaza,” Politicoreports. It is worth noting that earlier on Thursday, the conservative tabloid The New York Post published an article criticizing Witkoff, particularly for his approach to negotiating with two of America’s major adversaries.
When asked to comment on reports of Waltz’s potential dismissal, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated that she would not comment on “reports from anonymous sources.”
As a reminder, in March, Michael Waltz was embroiled in a scandal after mistakenly adding The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg to a closed Signal chat where national security officials were discussing U.S. strikes on Yemen.
Waltz took responsibility for the incident, and media reports indicated that discussions about his future followed. However, the U.S. President publicly expressed support for his national security advisor, calling him “a good man” who had “learned his lesson” from the situation.
