President Donald Trump fired at least three National Security Council officials this week after far-right activist Laura Loomer met with him and expressed dissatisfaction with some officials on his national security team, three people familiar with the matter told NBC News.
Trump confirmed the meeting Thursday but denied that Loomer — whom he called a "patriot" and a "very strong person" — recommended any terminations.
The president told reporters on Air Force One that it was customary to let go of “people that we don’t like, or people that we don’t think do the job, or people that may have loyalty to somebody else.” He said he wasn't sure how many officials had been fired.
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Among those let go were senior officials Brian Walsh, Thomas Boodry and David Feith, the three sources told NBC News.
Walsh previously was a top aide to Marco Rubio on the Senate Intelligence Committee. Boodry was a legislative director for national security adviser Michael Waltz when he was in Congress, and Feith worked for the State Department during Trump's first term.
Loomer met with Trump in the Oval Office on Wednesday afternoon in a meeting attended by Waltz and Vice President JD Vance, two people familiar with the meeting told NBC News. One person also said Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, was present.
According to one of these people, Loomer pressed Trump to fire members of his national security staff, and Waltz defended them. It's not clear whether Loomer specifically named Walsh, Boodry or Feith. National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes declined to comment. Reached by phone, Boodry declined to comment. Walsh and Feith did not reply to requests for comment.
In a Newsmax interview Thursday, Vance acknowledged the firings but did not say whether Loomer was involved.
“The president just decided those folks there, they can be good people, but that they weren’t helping his agenda,” Vance said. “So he’s going to hire the people who do.”
Loomer confirmed the meeting in a statement, calling it “an honor” to share with Trump her research on the staff, and said “strong vetting” is needed for the sake of national security.
“Out of respect for President Trump and the privacy of the Oval Office, I’m going to decline on divulging any details about my Oval Office meeting with President Trump,” Loomer said in her statement. “It was an honor to meet with President Trump and present him with my findings, I will continue working hard to support his agenda, and I will continue reiterating the importance of strong vetting, for the sake of protecting the President and our national security."
Loomer later wrote on X that she had "reported" certain national security officials to Trump who she claimed were "disloyal" and "have played a role in sabotaging" his presidency.
Trump said Thursday that at the meeting, Loomer recommended "certain people for jobs."
"She makes recommendations of things and people, and sometimes I listen to those recommendations, like I do with everybody. I listen to everybody and then I make a decision," he told reporters on Air Force One.
Status was first to report that Loomer visited the White House on Wednesday. The New York Times was first to report that she told Trump to fire members of his national security team during the meeting.
Trump has defended his national security team after The Atlantic magazine revealed last week that its top editor was added to a high-level group chat about U.S. military strikes in Yemen. Waltz has said he was responsible for the error; Vance also participated in the group chat.
Loomer’s access to Trump became an internal flashpoint during last year’s campaign. Aides and advisers were not always successful in shielding him from her. For example, she traveled on Trump’s jet to his debate in September with then-Vice President Kamala Harris in Atlanta and to 9/11 memorial services in New York the next day. Her presence at the latter infuriated some Democrats and Republicans, because one of the many conspiracy theories she has promoted is the false notion that the 2001 terrorist assault on the United States was an “inside job.”
