President Trump’s national security advisor, Michael Waltz, has been removed from his position after serving for a little more than three months, according to multiple reports Thursday. He is the first high-profile departure of the new administration. 

Mr. Waltz has little to show for his time in the West Wing, with hostage negotiations between Israel and Hamas stalled and peace talks between Russia and Ukraine seemingly going nowhere, and, most famously, his mistaken addition of the Atlantic’s editor, Jeffrey Goldberg, to a Signal group chat in which war plans were discussed. 

The plan to oust Mr. Waltz was first reported by journalist Mark Halperin on Thursday morning. The White House did not immediately respond to an email from the Sun seeking comment, and has yet to confirm Mr. Waltz’s departure. 

Several conservatives lambasted Mr. Waltz for the group chat fiasco that became known as “Signalgate.” Many viewed his foreign policy record — including support for keeping forces in Afghanistan and providing military aid to Ukraine — as antithetical to Mr. Trump’s “America First” agenda. 

Mr. Waltz’s deputy, Alex Wong, will also leave the administration, according to a conservative activist, Laura Loomer, who recently met with the president at the White House to demand more dismissals. Many Republicans — including a MAGA-friendly congresswoman, Marjorie Taylor Greene — have repeatedly denounced Ms. Loomer for her racist and conspiratorial views.

Ms. Loomer went on a tear against Mr. Wong for his marriage to a former federal prosecutor, Candice Wong, who worked at the U.S. attorney’s office at the District of Columbia, from which most criminal cases against January 6 offenders were handled. 

Her attacks prompted Senator Cotton to issue a stern defense of Mr. Wong, who had previously served as the Arkansas lawmaker’s top national security and foreign policy advisor.

“Alex Wong and his wife Candice are complete and total patriots, 100 percent MAGA Warriors who always put America First,” he said. “For three years, Alex worked hard for me until President Trump smartly hired him away.” 

Ms. Loomer celebrated the firings on Thursday. In response to the reports that Mr. Wong was on his way out, Ms. Loomer wrote: “SCALP.”

“Hopefully, the rest of the people who were set to be fired but were given promotions at the NSC under Waltz also depart,” Ms. Loomer wrote in a separate post. 

Politico reports that the leading candidate to replace Mr. Waltz is Steve Witkoff, who serves as Mr. Trump’s special envoy. The two men have been friends for decades, having both worked in New York real estate. 

Mr. Witkoff has played a leading role in the Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations. He met with President Putin at Moscow to discuss a path to a cease-fire, though those talks have yielded no results thus far. 

Several of Mr. Witkoff’s critics within the administration spoke to the New York Post this week to say he is in over his head. One source described Mr. Witkoff as a “bumbling f–ing idiot.”

Following the Signalgate fiasco, many Democrats had hoped that the president would fire Secretary Hegseth, given that he was the one to disclose sensitive military plans that included a timeline for when the United States would strike Houthi targets in Yemen. 

Mr. Hegseth has been facing his own turmoil at the Pentagon, with several top-level staffers being escorted from the building in recent weeks after being accused of leaking to the press.

In an interview with Megyn Kelly after his firing, one of those staffers, Colin Carroll — who served as Mr. Hegseth’s chief of staff — said the secretary does not have what it takes to lead the world’s largest military. Mr. Carroll claims that Mr. Hegseth spends as much time focused on press leaks and his public image as he does on actual military affairs. 

When asked if Mr. Hegseth is “okay,” Mr. Carroll responded, “Honestly, I don’t know. I’m not sure.”