Trump Announces Change in National Security Team: Waltz Out, Rubio In as Advisor
Rewritten Article:
ussen President Donald Trump has announced his intention to transfer Mike Waltz from his current position as National Security Advisor, instead nominating him as Ambassador to the United Nations.
This announcement, shared on Thursday, happened after reports of intense speculation regarding Waltz and his second-in-command, Deputy National Security Adviser Alex Wong, being forced out of their roles.
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"I am thrilled to announce that I will be nominating Mike Waltz to be the next United States Ambassador to the United Nations," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. "Mike Waltz has worked diligently to put America's interests first. I'm confident he'll do the same in his new role."
Trump disclosed that Secretary of State Marco Rubio would take over Waltz's role as National Security Advisor, while maintaining his position as the country's top diplomat.
"Together, we'll continue to fight tirelessly to make America and the world safe again," Trump said.
Trump's post could signal the first major staff reshuffle of his second term. Throughout the day, unidentified sources had informed major US news outlets that Waltz had been removed due to a cooling of his relationship with Trump.
Waltz's reputation has been tarnished by an incident where he seems to have added a journalist to a private Signal chat where details of U.S. military operations were shared.
However, Trump has publicly stood by Waltz and refused to dish out punishment for the Signal scandal.
During his first term, Trump adopted a pattern of rotating through National Security Advisers. In his four years in office, he has had four different National Security Advisers, starting with retired General Michael Flynn, who only stayed for four weeks.
Waltz was a former U.S. Congressman, who represented Florida's 6th district from 2019. Although he was re-elected to his seat in 2024, he stepped down from his congressional role in January to join the Trump administration.
In a statement on November 12, when he first announced Waltz as his pick for National Security Advisor, Trump expressed, "Mike has been a strong proponent of my America First Foreign Policy agenda, and will be a formidable advocate of our pursuit of Peace through Strength."
But Waltz's foreign policy experience has been a contentious issue. While Trump positions himself as a "peacemaker and unifier" during his second term, promising to end world conflict, critics point out that Waltz has historically taken a more bellicose stance.
He served as a counterterrorism adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney under the administration of former President George W Bush, and he opposed the large-scale withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan without Taliban concessions.
This stance made Waltz and his team targets for some within Trump's "Make America Great Again" base. At a White House meeting in April, far-right media personality Laura Loomer reportedly criticized national security officials, including Waltz.
After that meeting, Trump fired six National Security Council officials, although Waltz and Wong were not among them.
On Thursday, Loomer seemed to celebrate Waltz and Wong's departures on social media. "Hopefully, the rest of the people who were set to be fired but were given promotions on the NSC under Waltz also leave," she wrote.
However, Waltz's standing in the White House was weakened by the revelation that Jeffrey Goldberg from The Atlantic magazine was added to a private Signal chat where top officials were discussing a bombing campaign in Yemen.
Goldberg revealed that he received an unexpected invitation from a Signal account he believed to be Waltz's. Accepting, he found himself in the midst of a conversation involving Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, and Secretary of State Rubio, who appeared to be planning bombing targets associated with the Houthis, a Yemen-based armed group.
Waltz acknowledged his role in the scandal and the White House declared the matter as "case closed." To take on his new role as UN Ambassador, Waltz will face a Senate confirmation hearing - a process he did not have to undergo as National Security Advisor.
The UN Ambassador's position has been vacant since Trump withdrew Representative Elise Stefanik's nomination on March 27, citing her congressional seat's significance and vulnerability in a special election.
Waltz confirmed his nomination to the ambassadorship in a brief social media post on Thursday. "I'm profoundly honored to continue serving President Trump and our great nation," he wrote.
- The nomination of Mike Waltz as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations signals a potential staff reshuffle within President Trump's second term.
- Amidst reports of intense speculation about Waltz and his deputy being forced out of their roles, Trump announced his intention to move Waltz from his position as National Security Advisor.
- Conflicting stances on foreign policy, particularly regarding peace and conflict, have made Waltz a contentious figure in politics.
- Critics have pointed out that while Trump positions himself as a peacemaker, Waltz, with his background in counterterrorism, has historically taken a more belligerent approach, such as opposing the large-scale withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan without Taliban concessions.
- However, Trump has refused to punish Waltz for his involvement in the Signalgate scandal, where it was reported that Waltz added a journalist to a private Signal chat where details of U.S. military operations were shared.
- The ambassadorship to the United Nations will require Waltz to face a Senate confirmation hearing, a process he did not have to undergo as National Security Advisor, amidst general news, war-and-conflicts, politics, crime-and-justice, and policy-and-legislation.
