WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump has fired several White House National Security Council officials after he was urged by far-right activist Laura Loomer to purge staffers she deemed insufficiently loyal to his “Make America Great Again” agenda, several people familiar with the matter said Thursday.
Loomer made her case for the firings to Trump in an Oval Office meeting on Wednesday, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel matters. Vice President JD Vance, chief of staff Susie Wiles, national security adviser Mike Waltz and Sergio Gor, director of the Presidential Personnel Office, took part in the meeting, the people said.
The move by Trump to push out 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.
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.”
Trump has a long history of elevating and associating with people who trade in falsehoods and conspiracy theories, and he regularly amplifies posts on his social media site shared by those like Loomer, who promotes QAnon, an apocalyptic and convoluted conspiracy theory centered on the belief that Trump is fighting the “deep state.”
Trump’s national security team has been through a difficult stretch as officials struggle to answer questions about why they were using the Signal app to discuss planning for an operation targeting Houthi militants instead of using far more secure communication means.
The use of Signal for operation planning came to light because a journalist, The Atlantic magazine’s Jeffrey Goldberg, was mistakenly added to the chain and revealed that Trump’s team used it to discuss precise timing of the operation, aircraft used to carry out the strikes and more.
Waltz has taken responsibility for building the text chain but has said he does not know how Goldberg ended up being included.
The Pentagon’s acting inspector general announced Thursday that he would review Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s use of Signal to convey plans on the Houthi operations. The review will also look at other defense officials’ use of the publicly available encrypted app.
Loomer, in the leadup to Wednesday’s meeting with Trump, had complained to sympathetic administration officials that she had been excluded from the NSC vetting process as Waltz built his staff, according to one person familiar with the matter. She believes Waltz was too reliant in the process on “neocons” — shorthand for the more hawkish neoconservatives within the Republican Party — as well as what she perceived as “not-MAGA-enough” types, the person said.
Sen. Mike Rounds, a Republican who sits on Senate committees overseeing the military and national intelligence, said it “raises eyebrows” when “there is a firing of people on the National Security Council or their staff, particularly people that we have respect for, who were part of the Intel community to begin with here in the Senate.”
Waltz, in the first days of Trump’s return to Washington, sent about 160 nonpolitical detailees assigned to the NSC back to their home agencies to ensure those at the White House were committed to implementing Trump’s America First agenda.
The move sidelined nonpolitical experts on topics that range from counterterrorism to global climate policy at a time when the United States is dealing with a disparate set of complicated foreign policy matters, including conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.
Last week, Adam Schleifer, an assistant US attorney in Los Angeles, was fired without explanation in a terse email from the White House personnel office shortly after Loomer posted about him on social media, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Trump fired several national security officials deemed insufficiently loyal
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Trump fired several national security officials deemed insufficiently loyal
- National security adviser Mike Waltz is fighting back criticism over using Signal app to discuss attacks on Yemen's Houthi militants
Indonesia weighs US arms purchases to curb tariff threat, Bloomberg News reports
- Equipment includes fighter jets and munitions
Indonesia’s Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin held a closed-door meeting of senior officials on April 8 to deliver a directive from the President Prabowo Subianto instructing them to identify US weapons that could be imported or fast-tracked for purchase, the report said, citing people with knowledge of the gathering.
EU needs to decide on possible Iran sanctions, Rubio says
- Rubio said the US administration is looking for a peaceful solution with Iran
PARIS: Europe needs to decide if it is willing to reimpose sanctions on Iran when it becomes clear it is close to developing a nuclear weapon, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday.
“The Europeans have a decision to make, because I believe we should all anticipate that they’re about to get a report from the IAEA that says not just Iran is out of compliance, but Iran is dangerously close to a weapon, closer than they’ve ever been,” Rubio said in Paris after meeting with European leaders.
Rubio said the US administration is looking for a peaceful solution with Iran, but will never tolerate the country developing a nuclear weapon.
“It has to be something that not just prevents Iran from having a nuclear weapon now,” he said about a possible agreement.
“But in the future as well, not just for ten years with some sort of sunset provision or the like.”
Two killed as police officer’s son opens fire at US university
- Five people were wounded when the gunman — identified as Phoenix Ikner — rampaged through Florida State University
- Footage on social media showed a stream of young adults walking through corridors with their hands in the air as they evacuated the building
Miami: Two men were killed in a mass shooting at a university in Florida allegedly carried out by the son of a local deputy sheriff with her old service weapon, police in the southeastern US state said Thursday.
Five people were wounded when the gunman — identified as Phoenix Ikner — rampaged through Florida State University, shooting at students, before he was shot by local law enforcement.
A sixth person was hurt trying to run away from the shooting, Chief Lawrence Revell of the Tallahassee Police Department said in a statement.
The campus was locked down as gunfire erupted, with students ordered to shelter in place as first responders swarmed the site moments after the lunchtime shootings.
Ikner, 20, has been hospitalized with “serious but non-life-threatening injuries,” Revell added.
Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil told reporters Ikner was a student at the university and the son of a an “exceptional” 18-year member of his staff.
“Unfortunately, her son had access to one of her weapons, and that was one of the weapons that was found at the scene.
He added that the suspect was part of Sheriff’s Office training programs, meaning “it’s not a surprise to us that he had access to weapons.”
Bystander footage aired by CNN appeared to show a young man walking on a lawn and shooting at people who were trying to get away.
Witnesses spoke of chaos as people began running through the sprawling campus as shots rang out near the student union.
“Everyone just started running out of the student union,” a witness named Wayne told local news station WCTV.
“About a minute later, we heard about eight to 10 gunshots.”
The witness said he saw one man who appeared to have been shot in the midsection.
“The whole entire thing was just surreal. I just couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
“Everything was really quiet, then all chaotic.”
'Make them take time'
The two people who died were “adult males” who were not students, police said.
The university, a public institution with more than 40,000 students, canceled all classes and told students who did not live on campus to leave.
FSU President Richard McCullough said the university was working to support those affected by the attack.
“This is a tragic day for Florida State University,” he said.
“We’re absolutely heartbroken by the violence that occurred on our campus earlier today.”
Student Sam Swartz told the Tallahassee Democrat he had been in the basement of the student union when shooting started.
“Everyone started freaking out,” Swartz said, adding he had heard around 10 shots.
A group of eight people huddled in a hallway and barricaded themselves with trash cans and plywood.
“I remember learning to do the best you can to make them take time,” Swartz said, adding that mass shooters are “just trying to get as many people” as they can.
Footage on social media showed a stream of young adults walking through corridors with their hands in the air as they evacuated the building.
Mass shootings are common in the United States, where a constitutional right to bear arms trumps demands for stricter rules.
That is despite widespread public support for tighter control on firearms, including restricting the sale of high-capacity clips and limiting the availability of automatic weapons of war.
President Donald Trump called the shooting “a shame, a horrible thing,” but insisted that Americans should retain unfettered access to guns.
“I’m a big advocate of the Second Amendment. I have been from the beginning. I protected it,” he said, referring to the part of the US Constitution gun advocates say protects firearm ownership.
“These things are terrible, but the gun doesn’t do the shooting — the people do.”
A tally by the non-profit Gun Violence Archive shows there have been at least 81 mass shootings — which it defines as four or more people shot — in the United States so far this year.
US will walk away from Russia-Ukraine peace deal if no progress made soon, Rubio says
- Trump was still interested in a deal but had many other priorities around the world
Paris: U.S. President Donald Trump will walk away from trying to broker a Russia-Ukraine peace deal within days unless there are clear signs that a deal can be done, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday.
"We're not going to continue with this endeavour for weeks and months on end. So we need to determine very quickly now, and I'm talking about a matter of days whether or not this is doable in the next few weeks. If it is we're in. If it's not, then we have other priorities to focus on as well," Rubio said in Paris, after meeting European and Ukrainian leaders.
Rubio said Trump was still interested in a deal but was willing to move on if there were no immediate signs of progress.
Trump promised during his election campaign to end the war within his first 24 hours in the White House. He moderated that claim on taking office, suggesting a deal by April or May, as obstacles mounted.
Rubio's comments underline the mounting frustrations over a lack of progress in pushes to settle
a growing list of geopolitical challenges.
Over 170 arrested for attacks on Pakistan KFC outlets in Gaza war protests
- Attacks sparked by anti-US, anti-Israel sentiment
- Several Western brands face boycotts in Pakistan over Israel-Palestine conflict
KARACHI: Police have arrested scores of people in Pakistan in recent weeks after more than 10 mob attacks on outlets of US fast-food chain KFC, sparked by anti-United States sentiment and opposition to its ally Israel’s war in Gaza, officials said.
Police in major cities in the Islamic nation, including the southern port city of Karachi, the eastern city of Lahore and the capital Islamabad, confirmed at least 11 incidents in which KFC outlets were attacked by protesters armed with sticks and vandalized. At least 178 people were arrested, the officials said this week.
KFC and its parent Yum Brands, both US-based, did not respond to requests for comment.
A police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said one KFC employee was shot and killed this week in a store on the outskirts of Lahore by unknown gunmen. The official added there was no protest at the time and they were investigating whether the killing was motivated by political sentiment or some other reason.
In Lahore, police said they were ramping up security at 27 KFC outlets around the city after two attacks took place and five others were prevented.
“We are investigating the role of different individuals and groups in these attacks,” said Faisal Kamran, a senior Lahore police officer, adding that 11 people, including a member of the Islamist religious party Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), were arrested in the city. He added the protests were not officially organized by TLP.
TLP spokesman Rehan Mohsin Khan said the group “has urged Muslims to boycott Israeli products, but it has not given any call for protest outside KFC.”
“If any other person claiming to be a TLP leader or activist has indulged in such activity, it should be taken as his personal act which has nothing to do with the party’s policy,” said Khan.
KFC has long been viewed as a symbol of the United States in Pakistan and borne the brunt of anti-American sentiment in recent decades with protests and attacks.
Western brands have been hit by boycotts and other forms of protests in Pakistan and other Muslim-majority countries in recent months over Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip.
The war was triggered by the Palestinian militant group Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
Since then, more than 51,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive, according to local health authorities.
Yum Brands has said one of its other brands, Pizza Hut, has faced a protracted impact from boycotts related to Israel’s war in Gaza.
In Pakistan, local brands have made inroads into its fast-growing cola market as some consumers avoid US brands. In 2023, Coca-Cola’s market share in the consumer sector in Pakistan fell to 5.7 percent from 6.3 percent in 2022, according to GlobalData, while PepsiCo’s fell to 10.4 percent from 10.8 percent.
Earlier this month, religious clerics in Pakistan called for a boycott of any products or brands that they say support Israel or the American economy, but asked people to stay peaceful and not destroy property.
