President Donald Trump is tipped to make his special envoy Steve Witkoff his next national security adviser after ousting Mike Waltz, according to reports.
Witkoff, who was branded a “bumbling f---ing idiot” by a White House insider, is the leading candidate to replace Waltz—slammed as a “f---ing idiot” by another White House source—after Trump officials lost confidence in Waltz over weeks of scandal and chaos engulfing the president’s national security team, according to Politico.
Sources told the outlet that Witkoff, an old Trump golf buddy who is now overseeing negotiations with Iran and Russia, is top of the list of names for a potential replacement for Waltz that have been circulating in the West Wing for weeks.
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Other Trump loyalists among the candidates include White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, Trump’s top counterterrorism adviser Sebastian Gorka, and U.S. special envoy Ric Grenell, according to Politico.
A source similarly told CNN that Witkoff is being considered as Waltz’s replacement, but said no final decision had yet been made.
Waltz’s expected departure will make him the first major departure from Trump’s second administration. The former Florida congressman’s tenure as national security adviser has been in doubt since he accidentally added a journalist into a Signal group chat of senior administration officials discussing sensitive military plans.
Trump’s allies were outraged by that staggering security breach, with one person close to the White House telling Politico saying that everyone in the building could agree that “Waltz is a f---ing idiot.”
Trump considered firing Waltz at the time but opted not to do so in a bid to avoid the kind of personnel chaos that overshadowed his first term in office, according to CNN.
Witkoff has also been the subject of severe criticism from people in Trump’s circle. The former real estate attorney was the subject of a New York Post story Wednesday saying that administration insiders have been “distressed” by the way he’s conducting negotiations with U.S. adversaries.
A source told the Daily Beast that Witkoff failed to adhere to security protocols in meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his negotiators, while others told the Post that he has taken part in high-level talks by himself. “Nice guy, but a bumbling f–--king idiot,” a member of Trump’s first administration said of Witkoff. “He should not be doing this alone.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to comment on reports of Waltz’s impending exit, telling Politico the administration will not “respond to reporting from anonymous sources.”
It appears that Waltz may not have been aware of what was coming. Just before news of his imminent ouster broke on Thursday, he appeared in an upbeat mood during an appearance on Fox & Friends, praising Trump over the signing of a minerals deal with Ukraine.
“All of this, nobody said could be done,” Waltz said. “President Trump said: ‘Get it done.’”
He also called Witkoff a “great ambassador” in dealing with Iran. Waltz even said he was “so excited” about strong military recruitment figures, calling it “leadership at its finest led by our commander-in-chief who loves the troops and they love him.”
His effusive praise of the man about to show him the door followed similarly fawning comments that Waltz made at a Cabinet meeting Wednesday.
“Mr. President, everything from revitalizing shipyards to cyber to space, that takes this entire team working together,” Waltz said. “It’s an honor to serve you in this administration. And I think the world is far better, far safer for it.”
