The two women at the centre of Mike Waltz’s demise

To experts in White House Kremlinology the writing was on the wall for Mike Waltz, Donald Trump’s national security adviser.

On Tuesday, he was spotted flying with the president aboard Marine One from the White House to Joint Base Andrews, just outside Washington, but did not make it up the stairs to Air Force One for the flight to Michigan and a landmark speech celebrating 100 days in power.

Less than 48 hours later a slew of administration officials quietly confirmed that Mr Waltz, a former special forces Green Beret, had lost the confidence of the president making him the first major scalp of Mr Trump’s second administration.