Who is far-right activist Laura Loomer?
President Donald Trump is spending time with Laura Loomer, a far-right activist, but who is she?
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump admits he is taking advice from extreme right-wing conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer but won’t say directly whether she played a role in his firing of senior U.S. intelligence officials, including the head of the nation’s Cyber Command and National Security Agency.
After two days of high-profile Trump firings, Loomer hinted on Friday that there could be more.
First, the president took aim at senior staffers on the White House National Security Council, after Loomer presented what she said was evidence they had been “disloyal” to Trump in an Oval Office meeting with him Wednesday.
On Thursday night, news broke that Trump had also fired Gen. Timothy Haugh, the director of the National Security Agency, the nation’s premiere electronic eavesdropping agency, and head of the Defense Department’s U.S. Cyber Command.
Loomer also took credit for planting the idea of Haugh’s ouster and that of NSA Deputy Director Wendy Noble in one of many self-congratulatory social media posts. Both, Loomer told her 1.6 million X followers, “have been disloyal to President Trump.”
“Thank you President Trump for being receptive to the vetting materials provided to you,” Loomer added, “and thank you for firing these Biden holdovers.”
On Friday, Loomer said she “will be releasing more names of individuals who should not be in the Trump administration due to their questionable loyalty & past attacks on President Trump. I’ll be releasing those names later today and tomorrow.”
Who is Laura Loomer and why is she so controversial?
Loomer, a longtime fixture at Trump rallies and events, has for years taken credit for influencing Trump on a range of matters, including personnel decisions and foreign policy.
But the 31-year-old failed political candidate and self-described provocateur has also garnered significant criticism for her inflammatory comments. They include virulent anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim posts that helped get her kicked off of Twitter before the social media platform was bought by billionaire Trump aide Elon Musk.
Loomer has taken swings at other groups, proclaiming that “rich Jews are destroying America” and said on a far-right radio show that she is “pro-white nationalism.”
She lost two bids for Congress in Florida, in 2020 and 2022.
And Loomer has espoused numerous conspiracy theories, including that the Sept. 11, 2001, al-Qaeda attacks on New York and Washington were an inside job orchestrated by the U.S. government.
Last year, Loomer accompanied Trump on his travels to New York and elsewhere for events commemorating 9/11 victims, drawing criticism for both of them given Loomer’s outspoken peddling of conspiracy theories about the terrorist attacks.
In some cases, Trump has distanced himself from Loomer, including after she said during the 2024 race that the White House “would smell like curry” if Harris won the election, in a dig at her Indian heritage.
What role is Loomer playing in Trump’s decisions?
Loomer, for years, has taken credit in social media posts and public comments for having an outsized influence on Trump’s decisions. She has been outspoken in recent weeks about what she claims is a “vetting crisis” within the Trump administration that has failed to weed out hidden opposition figures who are trying to subvert Trump’s MAGA agenda.
On Thursday, when asked whether Loomer played a role in the ouster of at least three senior National Security Council staffers this week, Trump gave a somewhat conflicting answer.
“Laura Loomer is a very good patriot,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One late Thursday when asked about his meeting with her prior to their firings.
“She makes recommendations of things and people and sometimes I listen to those recommendations,” Trump said.
During the Wednesday meeting, Trump said, Loomer “recommended certain people for jobs.”
So she was recommending adding certain people to the administration, not firing of certain individuals, a reporter asked?
“Oh, she’ll recommend that too,” Trump replied, keeping the timeline of Wednesday’s comments vague.
“Sometimes I listen to those recommendations, like I do with everybody,” Trump said. “I listen to everybody, and then I make a decision.”
Ultimately, though, Trump said, Loomer was not responsible for the ouster of the NSC aides.
Loomer still took credit for influencing the ouster of the NSA’s Haugh and Noble. Sources within the White House and broader federal government told USA TODAY and other media outlets that Loomer’s opposition research did, in fact, drive his decision.
On Friday, Loomer asked followers to help her continue her work by contributing to her legal defense fund that she uses to sue people she thinks have defamed her.
“I am constantly under attack and defamed by the media simply because I am effective in exposing corrupt people,” Loomer wrote, “and because I am loyal to President Trump.”
Critics say Loomer’s role is politicizing the intelligence process
Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., an Air Force veteran like Haugh, sharply criticized the circumstances around Haugh’s firing.
“The White House fired one of our best generals and the smartest on cyber operations, and with no explanation,” said Bacon, in a statement. “Russia and China are laughing at us.”
Democratic lawmakers had similar concerns about Trump for taking Loomer’s advice to fire Haugh, a highly respected career Air Force officer.
“I am alarmed and angered that, at the insistence of a far-right conspiracy theorist, President Trump dismissed one of the most skilled, accomplished officers in the U.S. military,” Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a statement.
“As the commander of Cyber Command, General Haugh led the most formidable cyber warfighting force in the world and kept our enemies up at night,” Reed, of Rhode Island, said. “President Trump has given a priceless gift to China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea by purging competence from our national security leadership.”
Reed said he has long warned about the dangers of firing military officers who fail what amounts to a political loyalty test. He criticized Trump for firing other military leaders and national security officials as well.
In these cases, Reed said, Trump “is sending a chilling message throughout the ranks: don’t give your best military advice, or you may face consequences.”
“The President must immediately explain himself to the American people,” Reed said.
Haugh’s firing comes several weeks after Trump ousted Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Adm. Lisa Franchetti, Chief of Naval Operations and other senior defense officials.
The top Democrats on the House and Senate intelligence committees also criticized Loomer for targeting national security officials – and Trump for listening to her.
Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, wrote Friday to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth asking for a public explanation for the removal of Haugh and Noble, who was reassigned to a job within the Pentagon.
“Given the critical importance of these positions to our national security and the rash nature of the dismissals, the public and your congressional overseers require a clear explanation of the rationale and circumstances behind these decisions,” Himes wrote. “Both General Haugh and Deputy Director Noble were highly qualified for their positions and have faithfully and lawfully executed their duties in an exemplary manner across multiple administrations.”
In a reference to Loomer, Himes cited public reporting, suggesting that the high-profile firings were the direct result of Loomer. He said they were “driven by a fringe social media personality, which represents a deeply troubling breach of the norms that safeguard our national security apparatus from political pressure and conspiracy theories.”
“The notion that senior leadership at critical agencies protecting our nation could be dismissed based on the whims of an online influencer is chilling and demands immediate clarification,” Himes wrote.
NSA Director Haugh firing especially concerning
Haugh – an apolitical career military man by virtually all accounts – was the highest-ranking intelligence official in the U.S. government responsible for electronic eavesdropping on America’s adversaries and for conducting cyberwarfare activities against them.
The Senate unanimously confirmed Haugh to his post in December 2023, and Republicans and Democrats alike were broadly deferential to him during his marathon testimony last month before the House and Senate intelligence committees.
A native of Hughesville, Pennsylvania, Haugh has been a commander at virtually every level of the Air Force from squadron on up, his NSA bio says. He also served as deputy commander of Joint Task Force Ares, the effort to counter terrorist groups like the Islamic State in cyberspace, the NSA said.
Haugh was scheduled to testify next Wednesday before the Senate Armed Services Committee to review Cyber Command’s budget requests for the next fiscal year and to update lawmakers on the agency’s organization and operations.
On Friday, Loomer continued to gloat publicly about having a role in the firings. And when CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins questionedon her program how Loomer got her meeting with Trump, Loomer shot back – again on X – that Collins “doesn’t know who gave me clearance to get to the White House. President Trump did, Kaitlan.”