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National Security Advisor Mike Waltz looks on as he sits next to US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in the Oval Office on March 13, 2025.

REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

Will Waltz face the music?

Someone needs to take Michael Waltz’s phone out of his hand. The National Security Advisor’s tech scandal continues, as documents shared with the Washington Post revealed on Tuesday that he was conducting government business on his personal Gmail account, and Politico learned on Wednesday that he created at least 20 Signal group chats to discuss various foreign policy issues. These revelations follow the Signal chat scandal from last week and the discovery of Waltz’s public Venmo account. Penny for your thoughts, Hillary Clinton?

Apples and oranges. Whereas Clinton’s communications emerged following an FOIA request from a right-wing nonprofit, it’s unclear how the former Florida congressman’s emails and information about the other Signal chats got to journalists. One GOP strategist familiar with FOIA requests argued that the way these stories were characterized — the Washington Post said it had “reviewed” the documents — reveals they were leaks.

His last Waltz? The White House isn’t happy with the former Army officer. Though US President Donald Trump spared him after the Houthi chat debacle, Waltz has faced questions about his relationship with Jeffrey Goldberg,the journalist he inadvertently added to the chat.His responses have been awkward, and his position now looks to be under threat. To make matters worse, Trump fired three members of Waltz’s team on Thursday, seemingly leaving Waltz on the brink.

U.S. President Donald Trump's adviser Elon Musk gives a check to an audience member during a rally in support of a conservative state Supreme Court candidate of an April 1 election in Green Bay, Wisconsin, U.S. March 30, 2025.

REUTERS/Vincent Alban

Special elections showdown: Can Democrats pull off another surprise win?

Today, the US takes its political temperature as voters head to the polls for special elections in Florida and Wisconsin. Here’s what to know:

In Florida, Matt Gaetz’sseat is up for grabs, though it’s expected to stay in Republican hands. Meanwhile, after a leaked poll showed a surprisingly close race to replace Mike Waltz in Florida’s 6th Congressional District, the GOP is scrambling to defend a seat in an area Trump won by 30 points in November. Trump appeared at a town hall with GOP candidate Randy Fine on Thursday, while Elon Musk’s super PAC contributed $100,000 to the Florida races.

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U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 13, 2025.

In wake of the Signal scandal: Deflected blame and Transatlantic tensions

Donald Trump has decided not to fire National Security Advisor Mike Waltz for sharing information in a Signal group chat ahead of a US strike on Yemen. Instead, he blamed a staffer for mistakenly adding Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, to the chat instead of Jamieson Greer, the US Trade Representative.
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- YouTube

What Trump team's war plans leak revealed

Ian Bremmer's Quick Take: Hi everybody. Ian Bremmer here, and a Quick Take on this extraordinary story in The Atlantic. Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of this magazine, invited into a Signal chat, the Signal app, by the national security advisor, Michael Waltz, with all of the major national security related principles in the Trump administration, to discuss imminent attacks by the United States on the Houthis in Yemen, the single biggest war fighting that the Trump administration has been involved in the first two months of their term. A lot to think about here, a few points I think worth mentioning.

The first point, it's pretty clear this should not have happened. A discussion of this sort, classified, involving direct war preparation, should not have been happening on Signal, but clearly everyone in the conversation was aware and okay with that. So, I don't think you blame singularly Mike Waltz for the fact that he was the guy that happened to bring the outsider inadvertently in. This collective responsibility, everyone, this is the way the Trump administration is handling these sensitive national security conversations, that is what needs to be looked into and rectified going forward. Mike definitely made a mistake here, and what seems almost certainly to be the case is that he thought he was including the US trade representative, Jamieson Greer, JG, same initials as Jeffrey Goldberg - and The Atlantic editor-in-chief, and he's the only obvious person, Greer, that otherwise wasn't on this broader conversation. So, I would bet my bottom dollar that is the way this happened. And I think all the people that are calling for Mike Waltz to be fired, I certainly wouldn't let him go for that. The issue is the broader lack of operational security around war decisions and fighting.

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- YouTube

A smooth Biden-Trump transition is vital to protect US interests, says Jake Sullivan

At a live event hosted by the 92nd Street Y in New York City, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan sat down with Ian Bremmer for GZERO World, Bremmer’s PBS global affairs TV series. Reflecting on the challenges of transitioning between administrations, Sullivan provided a rare behind-the-scenes look at how the outgoing Biden administration and the incoming Trump administration are working together to safeguard US interests during this critical period.

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- YouTube

Jake Sullivan on the biggest threats to US national security in 2025

From Russia to China to the Middle East, what are the biggest threats facing the US? On GZERO World, outgoing National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan joins Ian Bremmer in front of a live audience at the 92nd Street Y in New York City for a wide-ranging conversation on America’s view of the world, President Joe Biden’s foreign policy legacy, and how much will (or won’t) change when the Trump administration takes office in 2025. Despite major differences between the two administrations, Sullivan says he’s seen “more alignment” with his successor Mike Waltz than he expected and that they agree on “big ticket items” like making sure US adversaries don’t take advantage of the US during the presidential transition. Reflecting on his time and office and how the global threat environment has changed, Sullivan digs into risks and opportunities in Syria, the US-Israel relationship, China’s global ambitions, and Putin’s miscalculations in Ukraine.

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Speakerless House shows weakness to US adversaries, says Rep. Mike Waltz | GZERO World

Speakerless House shows weakness to US adversaries, says Rep. Mike Waltz

It's not a particularly comfortable moment to be a House Republican on Capitol Hill. Unable to agree on a Speaker, the House remains paralyzed and unable to do crucial work on a wide array of domestic and foreign policy priorities. Israel, of course, is at the top of that list. Republican Congressman Mike Waltz worries that the paralysis on Capitol Hill is playing right into the hands of America's adversaries.

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Podcast: What's the US role in the Israel-Hamas war? Views from Sen. Chris Murphy & Rep. Mike Waltz

Transcript

Listen: Two weeks into Israel's bloody war with Hamas, the death toll continues to mount, and amidst the rubble of bombed-out buildings, one thing seems clear: things are far from over. On the GZERO World podcast, Ian Bremmer asks what role the US government should play in the conflict and whether that role is as clear-cut today as it was after the attack on October 7. President Biden made a politically and personally dangerous trip to Israel this week, showing solidarity for America’s closest ally in the Middle East. But the administration must walk a fine line between supporting Israel’s right to defend itself, and preventing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza from spiraling out of control.

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