The Trump administration’s slash-and-burn approach to shrinking the size of the federal workforce may soon be coming to the White House.
President Donald Trump is gearing up for a wave of White House firings that could come as soon as late next week in a plan that West Wing aides have branded “The Purge,” Politico reported Thursday, citing an unnamed administration official.
“A lot” of terminations are on the table, a second official told Politico. The plan reportedly involves firing staff in a massive wave rather than doing it piecemeal, starting with mid-level White House staffers.
Trump has so far restrained himself from replaying the chaotic turnover that plagued his first term, but Mike Waltz’ ouster as national security adviser and swift reassignment as United Nations ambassador may be a sign of a brewing storm.
Waltz got the boot in the wake of “Signalgate” in late March, when he mistakenly added The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg to a Signal group chat of high-ranking national security officials discussing sensitive details of a military strike on Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Trump reportedly held off on firing Waltz despite the major blunder partly to avoid the appearance that he was reacting to negative media coverage.
“Waltz has been on thin ice for a while,” a White House ally told Politico at the time. “This made the ice thinner but at the same time… may actually save him for now because they don’t want to give Goldberg a scalp.”
Trump announced on Thursday that he would be nominating Waltz as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, a role that initially went to Rep. Elise Stefanik but later got snatched back over razor-thin margins in Congress.
“From his time in uniform on the battlefield, in Congress and, as my National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz has worked hard to put our Nation’s Interests first,” the president wrote on Truth Social. “I know he will do the same in his new role.”
Trump named Marco Rubio as interim national security adviser, adding to his growing list of responsibilities that so far includes leading the Department of State and the now-dismantled U.S. Agency for International Development.
“The president is surrounded by highly talented and qualified patriots working to execute his agenda,” a White House official told Politico. “Mike Waltz will continue these efforts, and Secretary Rubio will excel in this new role.”
Waltz has now served the second-shortest stint as national security adviser in White House history, trailing behind Michael Flynn, who lasted just three weeks in the role during the first Trump administration.
In his final meeting as a member of Trump’s cabinet on Wednesday, Waltz’s phone hinted that he had yet to learn his lesson from Signalgate.
Waltz’s phone was caught on camera as he sat at the elliptical mahogany table. A zoomed-in look showed that he was on Signal, with his inbox containing threads with Vice President JD Vance, National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.
Witkoff, who has been leading negotiations with Russia, Iran, and Hamas, is reportedly Trump’s leading pick for national security adviser. Other names being floated include top White House aide Stephen Miller, National Security Council senior director for counterterrorism Sebastian Gorka, and special envoy for special missions Richard Grenell.
Waltz appeared to be unaware of his impending ouster during the Wednesday Cabinet meeting, where he and other top officials heaped praise on Trump.
“Mr. President, everything from revitalizing shipyards to cyber to space, that takes this entire team working together,” he said. “It’s an honor to serve you in this administration. And I think the world is far better, far safer for it.”
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