General Timothy Howe, head of the National Security Agency and the US Cyber Command, has been fired. A Pentagon spokesman did not say why Howe was fired, but only issued a statement thanking the general for his "decades of service to our nation" and wishing him well.
Far-right conspirator and Donald Trump supporter Laura Loomer played a role in the decision, senior US intelligence officials told CBS. They said others in Trump's inner circle also pushed for Howe's firing. Earlier this week, six other National Security Council officials were fired after Laura Loomer met with the president in the Oval Office.
Who is Laura Loomer?
Loomer, a self-described "proud Islamophobe", has said that she considered the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to be an "insider attack", blaming the George W. Bush administration for the tragedy. Shortly after making the comment, Loomer accompanied Donald Trump to a memorial service for the victims of September 11.
She has also claimed that some mass shootings in American schools have been staged. She has also accused Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis of "overacting" about her battle with breast cancer, and has publicly questioned whether the "deep state" did not use a "climate change" facility in Alaska to create a snowstorm over Des Moines so that the bad weather could suppress voter turnout in the 2024 Iowa caucuses and hurt Trump's campaign.
During last year's campaign, Laura Loomer said that if Kamala Harris won the presidential election, "the White House would smell like curry". Trump's vice president, J.D. Vance, whose wife, Usha, is of Indian descent, distanced herself from Loomer's comments. He said Laura Loomer was in no way affiliated with Donald Trump's campaign.
Trump himself has not criticized the far-right online celebrity. "I have no control over Laura," he once said. His explanation: "she's a free spirit." This same free spirit met with the US president this week, after which members of Mike Walz's team lost their jobs. American sources claim that Loomer explained to Trump that the people in question were "not loyal enough".
When asked about her meeting with the president, Loomer refused to reveal "any details" about it. She added: "I will continue to work hard to support his agenda and I will continue to insist on the importance of serious vetting in the name of protecting the president and our national security."
The firings at the National Security Council are part of an ongoing struggle between the most extreme loyalists of MAGA (the "Make America Great Again" movement) and what is left of the Republican foreign policy establishment, writes the American publication "The Atlantic". According to this media outlet, the reason for everything is that Trump is free from any control in his second term. The days when it was not possible for Loomer to meet with the president are in the past. Donald Trump has surrounded himself with sycophants who are apparently so afraid of being ousted that they dare not stop someone as far-right as Loomer from advising the president of the United States, comments "The Atlantic".
Even Republicans close to Trump are worried
In the Republican camp, the possibility that Laura Loomer influenced Trump to the point of firing her is apparently seen as so damaging to their reputation that even Marjorie Taylor Greene, who is also prone to provocations, is distancing herself: "Loomer's choice of words and the hateful tone of her remarks bother me," Taylor Greene said.
Apparently Republican voters feel the same way. Laura Loomer has run for the U.S. House of Representatives twice. She lost both times.