National security adviser Mike Waltz is leaving his post and will become America’s ambassador to the United Nations, marking the first major shakeup of President Trump’s second administration.
Waltz had been at the center of a controversy involving a group chat on the Signal app in which national security and defense officials were sharing key details of a military strike in Yemen. Waltz is said to be the person who inadvertently invited Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, to the chat.
After multiple outlets reported on Waltz’s departure from Trump’s national security team, the president on Thursday afternoon announced the former congressman would become his U.N. envoy, a role that remains open after Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) saw her nomination pulled due to the GOP’s thin House majority.
Waltz’s deputy, Alex Wong, is also expected to leave his post. Trump said Secretary of State Marco Rubio would serve a dual role as his national security adviser for the time being.
Waltz is the highest-ranking Trump official to leave the administration since the start of the second term. Chief of staff Susie Wiles said in a recent interview that she expects all of Trump’s Senate-confirmed Cabinet secretaries to stay in their posts through his first year back in office.
Goldberg revealed in a March 24 report that he was added to the message chain, which the National Security Council confirmed was authentic. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth outlined in Signal the strikes on Houthi rebels — details the White House and Hegseth insist were not classified.
Questioned swirled at the time about if Waltz, or Hegseth, would be fired over the situation but Trump defended Waltz, a former congress member from Florida, saying he has confidence in his top adviser.
“Michael Waltz has learned a lesson, and he’s a good man,” Trump told NBC at the time.
Meanwhile, Hegseth has stayed in the spotlight since then. He reportedly shared attack plans in another Signal chat that included his family and personal lawyer.
Waltz joined Trump’s Cabinet meeting Wednesday and spoke briefly while officials went around the table. He also joined the president in Rome on Saturday for Pope Francis’s funeral.
He traveled with the president on Marine One on Tuesday when Trump went to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, but he didn’t board Air Force One to travel to Michigan with him, CNN reported.
Earlier this month, six officials from the National Security Council were fired after Laura Loomer, a political activist linked to far-right conspiracies, met with Trump and reportedly brought a list of national security officials who couldn’t be trusted.
Those fired from the council included Brian Walsh, senior director of intelligence; Thomas Boodry, senior director of legislative affairs who was also an aide to Waltz when he was in the House; and David Feith, senior director of technology and national security, among others.
Trump downplayed Loomer having anything to do with the firings, saying she “makes recommendations on things and people, and sometimes I listen to those recommendations.”
State Sen. Randy Fine (R) won the special election for Florida’s 6th Congressional District earlier this month to replace Waltz in Congress. Fine’s win came as a relief for Republicans, who grew increasingly worried about the race as Democrat Josh Weil overperformed Fine in fundraising and some polling.
Updated at 2:25 p.m. EDT
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