US President Donald Trump dismissed national security adviser Michael Waltz after a series of clashes that included Waltz’s behind-the-scenes talks with Israel about striking Iran, the Washington Post reported on Saturday.
Two people familiar with the matter said Waltz held “intense coordination” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on military options against Iran before Netanyahu’s early-February Oval Office meeting with Trump.
One of those people said, “It got back to Trump and the president wasn’t happy with it,” and added that Waltz “wanted to take US policy in a direction Trump wasn’t comfortable with because the US hadn’t attempted a diplomatic solution.”
The Israeli prime minister’s office on Saturday rejected the Washington Post report, saying, “Netanyahu had a cordial meeting with Mike Waltz and Steve Witkoff at Blair House in February before his meeting with President Trump at the White House.”
The statement adds that Waltz later joined VP JD Vance for another meeting with Netanyahu before departing Washington.
“Since then, the Prime Minister, the former national security adviser, and Steve Witkoff have had one phone call, which did not concern Iran.”
