Laura Loomer, a far-right conspiracy theorist known for her Islamophobic views and former Republican congressional candidate, has been banned from services like Uber and PayPal, as well as several social media platforms. Recently, she seems to have successfully influenced the White House to dismiss national security staffers accused of disloyalty.
According to reports, the White House has terminated at least three senior aides from the National Security Council after a meeting with Loomer. The officials let go include Brian Walsh, the senior director of intelligence; Thomas Boodry, the senior director for legislative affairs; and David Feith, who oversaw tech and national security. UJ indicates the number of dismissals could rise to six, as noted by the New York Times.
The New York Times initially reported that Loomer, infamous for her promotion of racism and 9/11 conspiracy theories, was present during a meeting on Wednesday. During this 30-minute session in the Oval Office, she allegedly presented President Trump with opposition research concerning National Security Council personnel.
Sources informed the Times that Trump may consider some of Loomer’s suggestions, as the activist reportedly confronted officials directly while in the presence of national security adviser Michael Waltz, who recently faced scrutiny for creating a group chat on Signal related to critical strikes in Yemen that resulted in a significant national security leak.
This meeting occurs at a troubling time for Waltz, following widespread criticism after the Atlantic published a story revealing that he mistakenly added the magazine’s editor-in-chief to a Signal chat discussing sensitive military operations in Yemen.
Waltz and his team have established at least 20 separate group chats on Signal for coordinating sensitive national security tasks, as reported by Politico. Moreover, the Washington Post indicated that Waltz’s staff has been handling government affairs through personal Gmail accounts.
Other attendees of the meeting included Vice President JD Vance, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and Communications Director Steven Cheung, all gathering ahead of the “liberation day” event at the Rose Garden. Pennsylvania Representative Scott Perry, a prominent Trump ally involved in efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, also arrived with his own concerns regarding staffing.
Loomer has been actively targeting Deputy National Security Adviser Alex Wong on social media, casting doubt on his loyalty due to his wife’s previous role as a Justice Department lawyer under Democratic administrations. She made unfounded accusations that Wong intentionally included the Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, in a sensitive chat “as part of a foreign operation to embarrass the Trump administration on behalf of China.”
Moreover, Loomer has been quite vocal on social media throughout the Trump presidency, particularly criticizing the White House’s mishandling of the Jeffrey Epstein files—a situation that not only angered her due to its content but also because she was excluded from the related ceremony.
During the 2024 election campaign, Loomer made connections with the Trump team, at one point even traveling on Trump’s plane, although he later began to distance himself from her. Throughout this time, she made various inflammatory remarks, including her racist claim that “the White House will smell like curry” if Kamala Harris were to be elected—a derogatory reference to Harris’s Indian heritage.
She also propagated false claims that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s wife had faked her breast cancer diagnosis.
