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Trump fires several national security officials deemed insufficiently loyal

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Thursday that he’s fired “some” White House National Security Council officials, a move that comes a day after far-right activist Laura Loomer raised concerns directly to him about staff loyalty.

Trump downplayed Loomer’s influence on the firings. But Loomer during her Oval Office conversation with Trump urged the president to purge staffers she deemed insufficiently loyal to his “Make America Great Again” agenda, according to several people familiar with the matter. They all spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive personnel manner.

Vice President JD Vance, chief of staff Susie Wiles, national security adviser Mike Waltz and Sergio Gor, director of the Presidential Personnel Office, also took part in the meeting with Loomer, the people said.

“Always we’re letting go of people,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he made his way to Miami on Thursday afternoon. “People that we don’t like or people that we don’t think can do the job or people that may have loyalties to somebody else.”

The firings by Trump of NSC staff comes at a tumultuous moment for Waltz, as he fights calls for his ouster after using the publicly available encrypted Signal app to discuss planning for the sensitive March 15 military operation targeting Houthi militants in Yemen. Trump has said he stands by Waltz, who traveled to Florida with Trump on Thursday for a dinner event ahead of the LIV Golf tournament in Miami.

The Presidential Personnel Office has fired at least three senior NSC officials and multiple lower-ranking aides since Wednesday’s meeting with Loomer, according to the people familiar with the situation. NSC spokesman Brian Hughes declined to comment on the meeting or the firings, saying the White House does not discuss personnel matters.

“Laura Loomer is a very good patriot. She is a very strong person,” said Trump, who described the far-right activist as usually “constructive.”

Trump acknowledged that Loomer “recommended certain people for jobs.”

“Sometimes I listen to those recommendations like I do with everybody,” Trump said. “I listen to everybody than I make a decision.”

Loomer, who has promoted 9/11 conspiracy theories, was a frequent presence on the campaign trail during Trump’s 2024 successful White House run. More recently, she’s been speaking out on social media about members of Trump’s national security team that she insists can’t be trusted.

“It was an honor to meet with President Trump and present him with my research findings,” Loomer said in a Thursday posting on X. “I will continue working hard to support his agenda, and I will continue reiterating the importance of, and the necessity of STRONG VETTING, for the sake of protecting the President of the United States of America, and our national security.”

The NSC officials fired include Brian Walsh, a director for intelligence; Thomas Boodry, a senior director for legislative affairs; and David Feith, a senior director for technology and national security, according two people familiar with the matter.

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