Trump purges national security team after meeting conspiracist

Donald Trump fired several US national security officials after a far-right conspiracy theorist questioned their loyalty in a White House meeting with the president, US media reported Thursday.

Influencer Laura Loomer, who is known for claiming that the 9/11 terrorist attacks were an inside job, laid out her concerns to Trump on Wednesday, The New York Times said in a report followed up by other outlets.

The reported purge comes as the National Security Council (NSC) faces scrutiny over a scandal in which a journalist was accidentally added to a chat on the Signal app in which officials discussed air strikes on Yemen.

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Six people from the NSC were sacked after the Loomer meeting, including three senior officials on the body which advises the president on top foreign policy matters from Ukraine to Gaza, the New York Times said.

Loomer confirmed the meeting, but said on X that "out of respect for President Trump and the privacy of the Oval Office, I'm going to decline on divulging any details."

The activist later said she had presented "opposition research" to the Republican president.

Asked about the report of the firings, Trump later told reporters: "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."

Trump described Loomer as a "great patriot" but said she was "not at all" involved with the reported NSC firings.

"She makes recommendations... and sometimes I listen to those recommendations," he told reporters on Air Force One.

NSC spokesman Brian Hughes told AFP the council "doesn't comment on personnel matters."

The 31-year-old Loomer often flew with Trump on his campaign plane during the 2024 election.

She sparked accusations of racism when she said on social media that Trump's Democratic rival Kamala Harris -- whose mother was of Indian descent -- would make the White House "smell like curry" if she won.

In recent days Loomer has repeatedly targeted national security official Alex Wong -- who was reportedly not among those sacked -- over the so-called "Signalgate" scandal that has rocked the White House

She baselessly suggested that he was responsible for accidentally adding Atlantic magazine journalist Jeffrey Goldberg to the chat, even though National Security Advisor Mike Waltz has taken responsibility for the error.

Trump has resisted calls to sack Waltz over the issue. Waltz was seen boarding Trump's helicopter as the president left the White House for a trip to Florida on Thursday.

But US media have reported that Waltz is considered by some in Trump's orbit as too tied to neo-conservative policies, rather than Trump's "America First" approach.