President Donald Trump said Thursday, May 1, that he's nominating his national security adviser Mike Waltz to serve as United Nations ambassador in a major shake-up of his national security team. The president said Secretary of State Marco Rubio will serve simultaneously as acting national security adviser while maintaining his position at the State Department.
Trump announced the moves shortly after news broke that Waltz was leaving the administration, just weeks after it was revealed that he had added a journalist to a Signal chat being used to discuss military plans. "I am pleased to announce that I will be nominating Mike Waltz to be the next United States Ambassador to the United Nations. From his time in uniform on the battlefield, in Congress and, as my National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz has worked hard to put our Nation’s Interests first," Trump wrote on social media. "In the interim, Secretary of State Marco Rubio will serve as National Security Advisor, while continuing his strong leadership at the State Department. Together, we will continue to fight tirelessly to Make America, and the World, SAFE AGAIN."
Waltz came under searing scrutiny in March after revelations that he added journalist Jeffrey Goldberg to a private text chain on the encrypted messaging app Signal, which was used to discuss planning for a sensitive March 15 military operation against Houthi militants in Yemen. "I'm deeply honored to continue my service to President Trump and our great nation," Waltz said of the nomination.
The Signal chain episode also showed that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth provided the exact timings of warplane launches and when bombs would drop. Waltz had previously taken "full responsibility" for building the message chain and administration officials described the episode as a "mistake" but one that caused Americans no harm. Waltz maintained that he was not sure how Goldberg ended up in the messaging chain, and insisted he did not know the journalist.
Trump and the White House – which insisted that no classified information was shared on the text chain– have stood by Waltz publicly throughout the episode. Questions are also swirling around Hegseth and his role in the Signal chat. While Waltz set it up, Hegseth posted times for aircraft launches and bomb drops into the unsecured app and shared the same information with dozens of people in a second chat, including his wife and brother. The Pentagon inspector general is investigating Hegseth’s use of Signal, and he has faced criticism from Democrats and even some Republicans. Nonetheless, Trump has maintained public confidence in Hegseth.
Waltz's shift from national security adviser to UN ambassador nominee means he will now have to face the Senate confirmation process he was able to avoid in January. The process, which proved to be difficult for a number of Trump’s Cabinet picks, will give lawmakers, especially Democrats, the first chance to grill Waltz on his decision to share information about an imminent US airstrike on Signal.