Fourth national security adviser ousted from White House in one week
Top advisers are leaving in droves leave while Trump tweets incoherently about war with Syria.

Like his legal defense team, Trump’s national security team is now unraveling.
At a time when Trump is tweeting in circles with incoherent, contradictory claims about pending missiles strikes against Syria, his National Security Council is being racked by resignations and firings.
On Thursday, it was reported national security aide Ricky Waddell is out. He follows three others who have jumped or been pushed out, just in the last week.
“Waddell, a Major General in the United States Army Reserve, who has run the daily operations of the NSC since last May,” Axios reports.
It’s all part of the larger purge that former Fox News contributor and Bush-era Iraq War cheerleader John Bolton is leading, since taking over as Trump’s top national security adviser. Not only has Bolton replaced ousted H.R. McMaster, but Bolton is essentially dismantling the top echelons of the National Security Council.
This week, senior official Nadia Schadlow tendered her resignation, just a few months after landing her job. And Michael Anton, who was in charge of the NSC’s strategic communications, also resigned.
On Wednesday, Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert was fired, also part of the Bolton purge.
“In a West Wing beset by chaos and dysfunction, Bossert was regarded as one of the few competent aides still standing” New York magazine noted.
More defections and firings are expected to roil the council in coming weeks.
Meanwhile, Trump continues to advertise the fact he’s a complete neophyte when it comes to diplomacy and national security, as he makes a fool of himself this week with heated tweets about “smart!” missiles that he’s going to launch against Syria.
On Wednesday morning, Trump was all over the Twitter map, posting taunts about possible military strikes and warning Russia not to interfere in Russia, and then hours later downplaying his threats.
Russia responded by mocking Trump’s “Twitter diplomacy.”
Trump’s irrational tweets completely toppled the administration’s planned-out response to Syria’s latest alleged gas attack.
“Trump upended it all with a tweet — warning Russia, the Syrian government’s backer, to “get ready” because American missiles “will be coming, nice and new and ‘smart!'” the Washington Post reported. “White House advisers were surprised by the missive and found it “alarming” and “distracting,” in the words of one senior official.”
Trump needs all the national security help he can get. But for now, his team’s imploding.
Recommended

RFK Jr. won’t commit to protecting Medicaid in Senate confirmation hearing
More than 72 million Americans receive health insurance through Medicaid.
By Jesse Valentine - January 30, 2025
Trump makes Republican senators squirm with January 6 pardons
Trump pardoned violent criminals, despite several Trump allies promising he wouldn’t.
By Jesse Valentine - January 23, 2025
Pete Hegseth appears to have no clue was ASEAN is
ASEAN is arguably the most important political and economic partnership in the Indo-Pacific
By Jesse Valentine - January 15, 2025