In a major shakeup of national security leadership, President Trump fired National Security Agency Director General Timothy Haugh and his civilian deputy, Wendy Noble, late yesterday.
The dismissal comes just 14 months into Haugh’s three-year term and signals the president’s determination to remove officials he considers disloyal from America’s intelligence apparatus.
Specifically, General Haugh was removed from his dual roles as Director of the NSA and Commander of U.S. Cyber Command.
At the same time, Noble was reassigned to the office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence, completing the leadership purge at America’s premier signals intelligence agency.
While the White House has not provided specific reasons for the dismissals, the move aligns with President Trump’s stated commitment to ensuring his administration is staffed with officials who share his vision.
“We’re always going to let go of people – people we don’t like or people that take advantage of, or people that may have loyalties to someone else,” he previously stated.
The firing represents a significant shift for the NSA, a high-tech intelligence agency specializing in signals intelligence and cyber operations.
Army Lt. Gen. William Hartman will temporarily lead both Cyber Command and the NSA while Sheila Thomas replaces Noble as the NSA’s executive director.
Some reports suggest conservative activist Laura Loomer may have influenced the dismissals after presenting President Trump with a list of potentially disloyal NSC staff.
However, the president described her only as a “great patriot” without confirming her direct involvement in personnel decisions.
Loomer stated:
“Look at the people who are crying about my meeting with President Trump and the firing of NSC AND NSA officials today. The people crying are the people who worked to undermine Donald Trump, members of the Democrat Party, and the mainstream media. They are furious. That’s how you know these people needed to be fired. We need to protect President Trump. Vetting matters.”
In response, Democrats on Capitol Hill expressed alarm over the personnel changes.
Senator Mark Warner and Representative Jim Himes, top Democrats on intelligence committees, questioned how the firing makes Americans safer.
Joe Biden appointed Haugh in February 2024 and was one of the few holdovers going into the Trump administration.
His dismissal follows a recent visit to NSA headquarters by Elon Musk, who serves as an advisor to President Trump on government efficiency.
The Pentagon’s inspector general is reportedly reviewing related actions by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth about broader national security staff alignment with the president’s policy priorities.
The administration appears committed to ensuring cohesive leadership across all security agencies.
There is speculation that President Trump may take this opportunity to split the leadership of Cyber Command and the NSA, potentially appointing separate leaders more aligned with his national security vision.
Such a structural change would represent a significant shift in how America’s cyber capabilities are organized and deployed.
