The Trump administration’s purge of national security officials this week has thrown a spotlight on the president’s ties to far-right activist Laura Loomer and raised questions about the direction of White House strategy as it seeks to end Russia’s war on Ukraine, challenge Iran’s nuclear program and counter China’s rising military might.
A series of dismissals began a day after Loomer met with Donald Trump at the White House. He told reporters on Thursday that “she makes recommendations of things and people, and sometimes I listen to those recommendations.” He said “no, not at all,” when asked whether she had anything to do with a round of firings at the National Security Council. But by Friday afternoon, Loomer was taking full credit for the shakeup.
The purge took its most senior target Thursday: National Security Agency Director Timothy Haugh. His photo was removed from the NSA website, and the top Democrats on the congressional intelligence committees protested that he had been removed from his position. His deputy, Wendy Noble, was reassigned to another position within the Pentagon’s Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence, the Washington Post reported.
The National Security Agency, which is formally an arm of the Pentagon, is in charge of electronic surveillance of foreign threats, providing US government and other intelligence agencies with what’s known as “signals intelligence” to deter attacks or carry out military missions.
“The Defense Department thanks General Timothy Haugh for his decades of service to our nation, culminating as U.S. Cyber Command commander and National Security Agency director,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a brief statement on Friday afternoon.
The high-level exits at the NSA followed reports of staffers removed from the National Security Council, including Thomas Boodry, who was recently appointed as a special assistant to the president and was also the senior director for legislative affairs at the NSC. Boodry was dismissed, according to a person familiar with the matter who declined to speak publicly.
“NSC doesn’t comment on personnel matters,” council spokesman Brian Hughes said in a statement to Bloomberg News.
It’s still unclear what impact the departures will have on the administration’s national security strategy. The National Security Council, an arm of the White House that coordinates policy among all government agencies, was already thinly staffed before this week’s exits. The Trump administration had placed many previous staffers on paid leave as they sought to bring in more of their own people.
‘Zero Tolerance’
Less than three months into the new administration, Loomer’s recommendations are highlighting a deep divide between traditional Republicans and those more devoted to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement, with MAGA followers putting loyalty to Trump over any expertise an administration official might hold.
“We learned our lesson from eight years ago, so it’s pretty much a zero tolerance policy” for any officials seen to have a “pedigree that’s neocon or establishment,” Mark Serrano, a senior adviser for Trump’s campaign in 2020, said in an interview.
Loomer, who has promoted conspiracy theories, had no hesitancy in boasting of the ousters.
“Why would we want Milley’s hand-picked choice for NSA DIRECTOR? We do not! And he was referred for firing,” Loomer said in one of her social media posts. General Mark Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, clashed openly with Trump during his first term.
On Friday afternoon, Loomer, who bills herself as an “investigative journalist” on X, called those ousted “Deep State moles.” She said National Security Advisor Mike Waltz supposedly vetted the NSC staffers who were dismissed but “he didn’t ask about their hatred of President Trump.”
‘These Traitors’
“I’m stopping these traitors before they can STRIKE, and they are livid,” she wrote. Loomer didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
She has long been a staunch defender of the president and a scourge of his political rivals. During the 2024 Republican primaries Loomer accused Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s wife, Casey DeSantis, of exaggerating her battle with breast cancer. Loomer once described herself as a “proud Islamophobe,” and at one point was banned from Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Trump has long embraced conspiracy theories and aligned himself with those who peddle them.
Yet Loomer’s proximity to Trump during the 2024 presidential campaign concerned even some of his closest allies, particularly when she flew on Trump’s private plane with him to the presidential debate against then-Vice President Kamala Harris last September.
On the debate stage, Trump echoed baseless claims that were promoted by Loomer, including that Haitian immigrants were “eating the pets” of the people of Ohio. He later claimed Harris was wearing an earpiece on stage during the debate — a claim that Loomer was pushing online without evidence.
The day after the debate, Loomer, who has claimed the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center was an “inside job,” accompanied Trump to ceremonies in New York and Pennsylvania commemorating the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
“It was an honor to meet with President Trump and present him with my research findings,” Loomer said on X after meeting Trump this week. “I will continue reiterating the importance of, and the necessity of STRONG VETTING.”
