National security advisor Mike Waltz will be leave his post in the Trump administration, which comes on the heels of controversy over the creation of a Signal messaging app group that inadvertently included The Atlantic Editor Jeffrey Goldberg, and was used to discuss U.S. military plans between high-level administration officials back in March. The group’s other members were Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice President JD Vance, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, CIA Director Scott Ratcliff, and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
President Trump said Thursday he’s nominating Waltz to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations; in the interim, Secretary of State Marco Rubio will serve as national security adviser. Waltz will need to be confirmed by the Senate for the ambassador role. Mr. Trump wrote: “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. I know he will do the same in his new role. In the interim, Secretary of State Marco Rubio will serve as National Security Advisor, while continuing his strong leadership at the State Department.” Waltz said on X, “I’m deeply honored to continue my service to President Trump and our great nation.”
Waltz is the first major official to leave the White House since the beginning of President Donald Trump’s second term in January. Deputy national security advisor Alex Wong is also expected to leave his job, according to sources. Wong served in the first Trump administration as deputy special representative for North Korea and also as deputy assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the State Department.
Trump had recently defended Waltz, telling NBC News the day after details came to light in an article by The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg that Waltz “has learned a lesson and is a good man.” Trump was asked further about Waltz’s future by The Atlantic in an April 24 interview. He said Waltz was “fine” despite being “beat up” after accidentally adding Goldberg to the group chat.
Editorial credit: noamgalai / Shutterstock.com