President Donald Trump has removed Mike Waltz from his role as National Security Adviser, appointing Secretary of State Marco Rubio to serve in the position on an interim basis. At the same time, Trump has nominated Waltz to become the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
This marks the first major personnel change of Trump’s second term and follows a growing controversy over the accidental inclusion of a journalist in a private Signal chat discussing sensitive military plans.
Trump acknowledged Waltz’s service in a message posted to his Truth Social platform: “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.”
The shake-up comes just weeks after Waltz admitted to mistakenly adding The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg to an encrypted group chat where top officials—including Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Deputy National Security Adviser Alex Wong—were discussing potential military actions against Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
Sources close to the White House say Waltz’s dismissal was prompted not only by the breach but also by broader concerns about his management of the National Security Council. Still, Trump is said to retain a favorable view of Waltz, with some describing the high-profile UN nomination as a “soft landing.”
Yet, questions remain about Waltz’s future. Some officials, speaking anonymously to the BBC, expressed skepticism over his chances of Senate confirmation and suggested the nomination might be a strategic way to ease him out without a formal firing.
Waltz, a former congressman from Florida and a U.S. Army veteran, shared a short message online: “I’m deeply honoured to continue my service to President Trump and our great nation.”
