Trump Fires NSA, Cyber Command Chief amid security shake-up

New Delhi, Apr 4: The Trump administration has dismissed General Timothy Haugh, the head of both the National Security Agency (NSA) and U.S. Cyber Command, in what appears to be part of a broader purge of senior security officials. The news, first reported by CBS and cited by the BBC, has sparked alarm among top Democrats, who say the decision could undermine national security. No official reason has been given for Gen Haugh’s removal. However, the dismissal follows a meeting earlier this week between President Donald Trump and far-right activist Laura Loomer. Loomer reportedly urged Trump to remove officials she believed were insufficiently loyal to his agenda.

In a post on social media platform X, Loomer accused both Gen Haugh and his deputy, Wendy Noble, of disloyalty, writing that “they have been disloyal to President Trump. That is why they have been fired.”

Trump appeared to confirm the motivation behind the firings in remarks made aboard Air Force One, stating, “We’re always going to let go of people – people we don’t like or people that take advantage of, or people that may have loyalties to someone else,” as quoted by BBC.

The firings of Gen Haugh and Noble came amid reports that at least three other senior officials at the White House National Security Council (NSC) were also removed from their posts. These include Brian Walsh, director for intelligence; Thomas Boodry, senior director for legislative affairs; and David Feith, senior director overseeing technology and national security.

Top Democrats on Capitol Hill voiced strong concerns, reports BBC. Representative Jim Himes of Connecticut, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said he was “deeply disturbed” by the dismissal.
“I have known General Haugh to be an honest and forthright leader who followed the law and put national security first — I fear those are precisely the qualities that could lead to his firing in this administration,” Himes said.

Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, also expressed concern about the implications of the shake-up at such a high level of national security leadership.

The dismissals come on the heels of a recent controversy involving the NSC, in which a journalist was accidentally added to a private Signal messaging thread discussing U.S. military strikes in Yemen. While Gen Haugh was not part of that chat, he testified before Congress last week regarding the leak. The extent to which that incident factored into the firings remains unclear.