Trump ousts national security boss after meeting with conspiracy theorist

Washington: The head of the United States National Security Agency and Cyber Command has been removed from his job, according to the top Democrats on the congressional intelligence committees.

Senator Mark Warner, of Virginia, and representative Jim Himes, of Connecticut, condemned the ouster of General Timothy D. Haugh, who led both the spy agency and the military command.

General Timothy Haugh was ousted from the National Security Agency and Cyber Command.Credit: AP

The move caught intelligence officials off guard. A spokesperson for Cyber Command said she could not confirm Haugh’s removal, and referred questions to the Pentagon, which did not respond to a request for comment. A White House spokesperson did not confirm the ouster.

But a US official briefed on the matter said Laura Loomer, a far-right activist and outside adviser to President Donald Trump, called for Haugh’s removal during an Oval Office meeting this week. Trump ordered Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth to fire Haugh, the official said.

Loomer has floated the baseless conspiracy theory that the September 11, 2001 attacks were an “inside job” and is viewed as extreme even by some of Trump’s far-right allies.

Haugh was also seen by the Trump administration as moving too slowly on its mandate to eliminate diversity programs.

Laura Loomer arrives with Donald Trump in Philadelphia for a presidential debate in September 2024.Credit: AP

Himes, the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee, said the public was owed an explanation.

“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.

Three former officials briefed on the matter said Haugh was informed of the decision while travelling. Current and former officials said Haugh’s deputy at the National Security Agency, Wendy Noble, was also removed from her post, and potentially reassigned to another position at the Pentagon.

One of the officials said neither Haugh nor Noble was told why they were being removed, only that “your services are no longer required”.

General Timothy Haugh (left) with FBI director Kash Patel, director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, CIA director John Ratcliffe and the Defence Intelligence Agency’s Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse before the Senate intelligence committee in March.Credit: Bloomberg

Another former official said Cyber Command deputy Lieutenant General William J. Hartman would serve as the acting director of the NSA.

Haugh had a cautious public manner, one that ran at odds with the new Pentagon and National Security Council leadership, which has promised aggressive cyber operations against China. Haugh also served as a top deputy at Cyber Command during the Biden administration and was appointed to his two posts in the previous administration. Former officials said that Trump administration officials viewed Haugh sceptically as a result of his appointment by former president Joe Biden.

Hegseth and Trump have removed several top officers from their posts, including Joint Chiefs of Staff chair General C.Q. Brown Junior; chief of naval operations Admiral Lisa Franchetti; and Coast Guard commandant Admiral Linda L. Fagan.

In a statement, Warner praised Haugh’s leadership and said his removal would not make the country safer, jabbing at the White House for sharing sensitive material on a commercial messaging application and ousting members of the National Security Council staff at the urging of Loomer.

Amid such actions, Warner said, the firing of a “nonpartisan, experienced leader” like Haugh is “astonishing”.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.