--- 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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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. 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"}}]}] ```