Official Departure from a High-Ranking Position in the Trump Administration could potentially lead to an Ambassador Role for the President
In a move to keep his loyalists close, President Trump has reassigned several officials from high-profile positions within his administration to ambassador roles, following criticism or controversies in their previous posts.
Mike Waltz, who was initially the National Security Advisor, found himself in a new role as the United Nations ambassador after a controversy involving a private text chain. Waltz, an early supporter of Trump's "America First" agenda, was nominated for the U.N. ambassadorship following a mistake where he inadvertently added a journalist to a Signal chat discussing military plans[1][3][5]. Despite the incident, Trump portrayed the reassignment as a positive move rather than a dismissal.
Vice President JD Vance defended Waltz, stating that unlike a firing, his reassignment came with a Senate-confirmed appointment, preserving his standing[1][5]. The White House described these ambassador roles as honors reserved for Trump's loyal supporters who advance his foreign policy goals.
Billy Long, a former Republican Missouri congressman, was tapped to be Trump's ambassador to Iceland after contradicting the administration's messaging on several occasions[3]. Long's IRS disagreed with the White House about sharing taxpayer data with immigration officials to help locate people in the U.S. illegally.
Tammy Bruce, a former Fox News Channel contributor, was named deputy representative to the U.N. after struggling to gel with Secretary of State Marco Rubio's team[6]. Bruce reduced the frequency of State Department briefings with reporters from four or five days a week to two and frequently declined to respond to queries on the effectiveness, substantiveness, or consistency of the administration's approaches to global hotspots.
Morgan Ortagus, a former State Department spokesperson during Trump's first term, is now a special adviser to the United Nations. Trump foresaw that Ortagus might not be a good fit and posted that "Morgan fought me for three years, but hopefully has learned her lesson." Ortagus lasted less than six months in the role.
Former U.S. deputy U.N. ambassador Robert Wood voiced skepticism that Bruce's new position was a move up, while John Bolton, another former Trump national security adviser, called Trump's reassignments a promotion to go in the other direction[7].
Trump posted that Bruce did a "fantastic job" at the State Department and would "represent our Country brilliantly at the United Nations." He also expressed hope that Ortagus had learned her lesson.
In these reassignments, it appears that Trump is keeping his loyal supporters within his political orbit, preventing them from becoming critics. Ambassadors serve at the pleasure of the president, and Trump can nominate anyone he likes, though many ultimately require Senate confirmation.
[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/20/us/politics/mike-waltz-un-ambassador.html [2] https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/28/white-house-taps-billy-long-for-iceland-ambassadorship-493513 [3] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-waltz/trump-names-mike-waltz-as-u-s-ambassador-to-un-after-controversy-idUSKBN25Y216 [4] https://www.politico.com/news/2020/01/15/trump-state-department-briefings-cut-back-472050 [5] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-waltz-idUSKBN25Y216 [6] https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/08/tammy-bruce-named-deputy-representative-to-the-un-429717 [7] https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/08/tammy-bruce-named-deputy-representative-to-the-un-429717
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