The Trump administration has fired Gen Timothy Haugh – the head of both the National Security Agency and US Cyber Command – the BBC’s US partner CBS has reported.
It is not clear why he was removed, but it comes after a meeting between President Donald Trump and far-right activist Laura Loomer on Wednesday. Ms Loomer reportedly urged Trump to fire specific employees whom she suspected lacked support for his agenda.
She posted on X that Gen Haugh and his deputy Wendy Noble, who US media reported was also let go, “have been disloyal to President Trump. That is why they have been fired.”
Before their firings were reported, Trump told reporters he would get rid of any staff deemed to be disloyal.
“We’re always going to let go of people – people we don’t like or people that take advantage of, or people that may have loyalties to someone else,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One.
Trump made the comments as reports emerged of the firings of at least three other officials at the White House National Security Council (NSC), following the reported meeting with Ms Loomer. The president did not confirm names.
The National Security Agency (NSA) referred the BBC to the Office of the Secretary of Defense Public Affairs for a comment on the firings.
The White House previously told the BBC that the NSC “won’t comment on personnel” matters.
The top Democrats on the House and Senate intelligence committees – Representative Jim Himes of Connecticut, ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, and Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, vice chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence – disclosed Gen Haugh’s firing to CBS.
Himes said in a statement that he was “deeply disturbed” by the decision, CBS reported.
“I have known General Haugh to be an honest and forthright leader who followed the law and put national security first — I fear those are precisely the qualities that could lead to his firing in this Administration,” Himes said.
Those fired from the NSC on Thursday included Brian Walsh, a director for intelligence; Thomas Boodry, a senior director for legislative affairs; and David Feith, a senior director overseeing technology and national security, CBS reported.
It was not clear if Gen Haugh and Ms Noble’s removals were connected to those at the NSC.
The firings follow a major controversy involving the NSC last month when senior officials inadvertently added a journalist to a Signal messaging thread about military strikes in Yemen.
Gen Haugh, who was not on the Signal chat, testified on Capitol Hill last week about the leak.
The extent to which that controversy played a role in the firings is unclear.
Trump has so far stood by top officials involved in the incident, including National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, who took responsibility for the Atlantic magazine reporter being added to the Signal chat, and said it was an accident.
According to CBS, a source familiar with the situation said the Signal incident “opened the door” to looking into staff members believed not to be sufficiently aligned with Trump, while Ms Loomer’s visit sealed the fate for those who were terminated.
The administration has been looking at outside meetings held by national security staff, reprimanding some for meeting people not believed to be aligned with the president, according to the source.
Aboard Air Force One en route to Miami, Florida, on Thursday, Trump praised Ms Loomer and confirmed he had met with her, calling her a “great patriot” and a “very strong person”.
“She makes recommendations… sometimes I listen to those recommendations,” he said. “I listen to everybody and then I make a decision.”
In a phone call with the BBC, Ms Loomer said it would be “inappropriate” to divulge details of her meeting with Trump on Wednesday.
“It was a confidential meeting,” she said. “It’s a shame that there are still leakers at the White House who leaked this information.”
She texted a statement that said: “It was an honor to meet with President Trump and present him with my research 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 of the United States of America and our national security.”
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, who posted information in the chat, is now the subject of an internal review into his use of Signal and whether he complied with his department’s policies, the Pentagon’s office of the acting inspector general said on Thursday.
Inspector general offices routinely conduct independent investigations and audits of federal agencies, and look into possible security breaches.
Upon returning to the White House in January, Trump removed many of the government’s inspectors general and has installed acting heads of the watchdogs at the defence, commerce, labour and health departments.
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