--- title: Michael Flynn Resignation: White House Confirms Trump Fired description: White House spokesman Sean Spicer confirmed that President Trump asked National Security Advisor Mike Flynn for his resignation Monday. canonical: https://time.com/4670930/white-house-president-trump-asked-for-flynns-resignation/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-02-14T18:58:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T03:19:46.060Z article:section: Politics og:title: White House: President Trump Fired Michael Flynn og:description: Earlier reports were that it was Flynn's idea. og:url: https://time.com/4670930/white-house-president-trump-asked-for-flynns-resignation/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbf5b12fc461bdd8f/6988ba3e8e0601467b469330/michael-flynn21.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Trump's National Security Adviser Michael Flynn Quits og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: White House: President Trump Fired Michael Flynn twitter:description: Earlier reports were that it was Flynn's idea. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbf5b12fc461bdd8f/6988ba3e8e0601467b469330/michael-flynn21.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # White House: President Trump Fired Michael Flynn > Sponsored content. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Feb 14, 2017 6:58 PM UTC  Michael Flynn, National Security Advisor to U.S. President Donald J. Trump, attends a press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the White House on Feb. 10, 2017. Michael Flynn, National Security Advisor to U.S. President Donald J. Trump, attends a press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the White House on Feb. 10, 2017. Olivier Douliery—Sipa/AP by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Feb 14, 2017 6:58 PM UTC White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer confirmed Tuesday that President Trump [asked former National Security Advisor Mike Flynn for his resignation](http://time.com/4670486/michael-flynn-resignation-record/) Monday, rather than the letter being offered of Flynn’s own volition. Just over 13 hours after the [first major shakeup](http://time.com/4670332/kellyanne-conway-michael-flynn-resignation/) in the Trump White House, Spicer sought to clarify the nature of [Flynn’s departure](http://time.com/4670450/donald-trump-michael-flynn-leaks/) after a senior Administration official suggested to reporters that Trump was inclined to keep Flynn in the position. Speaking in the White House press briefing room, Spicer said that Trump and others in the Administration had lost faith in Flynn after [he misled Vice President Mike Pence](http://time.com/4669847/michael-flynn-mike-pence-russia-apology/) on whether he had discussed Russian sanctions with the Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Spicer said the decision to fire Flynn was “not based on a legal issue, but based on a trust issue.” Spicer also confirmed that the Department of Justice notified White House Counsel Don McGahn on Jan. 26 about discrepancies between Flynn’s public comments about his calls with the ambassador and U.S. intercepts. Spicer said Trump and senior aides were briefed by McGahn immediate after the notification, and that Trump immediately directed an investigation into his top national security aide. That investigation included an “exhaustive and extensive questioning of Gen. Flynn” which was concluded in several days. Spicer added that Trump instinctively believed Flynn had not broken any laws because speaking with foreign leaders was among his job responsibilities. McGahn and is office, Spicer said, quickly determined that Flynn’s actions were not illegal, but raised questions about his trustworthiness. “It was an evolving and eroding process,” said of determining Flynn’s trustworthiness in the White House. Spicer suggested that other issues also led to Flynn’s ouster, “It was this and a series of issues,” he told reporters. Flynn was blamed inside the White House for failing to adequately brief the President on the reorganization of the National Security Council, and had been criticized for his management of the NSC. Spicer said Trump was “absolutely not” involved in Flynn’s decision to bring up sanctions with the ambassador but added that Trump “had no problem” with it. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4670930/white-house-president-trump-asked-for-flynns-resignation/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4670930/white-house-president-trump-asked-for-flynns-resignation/"},"headline":"White House: President Trump Fired Michael Flynn","datePublished":"2017-02-14T18:58:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T03:19:46.060Z","description":"White House spokesman Sean Spicer confirmed that President Trump asked National Security Advisor Mike Flynn for his resignation Monday.","url":"https://time.com/4670930/white-house-president-trump-asked-for-flynns-resignation/","keywords":["White House","National Security","Donald Trump","Mike Pence","Michael Flynn"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbf5b12fc461bdd8f/6988ba3e8e0601467b469330/michael-flynn21.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Zeke Miller","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbf5b12fc461bdd8f/6988ba3e8e0601467b469330/michael-flynn21.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Trump's National Security Adviser Michael Flynn Quits","caption":"Trump's National Security Adviser Michael Flynn Quits","creditText":"Olivier Douliery—Sipa/AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4670930/white-house-president-trump-asked-for-flynns-resignation/","name":"White House: President Trump Fired Michael Flynn"}}]}] ```