Mike Waltz Nominated As UN Ambassador By Trump

Topline

President Donald Trump is nominating his national security adviser Mike Waltz to be the next United Nations ambassador and will have Secretary of State Marco Rubio serve as interim national security adviser—a move that will drop Waltz from his adviser role weeks after he added a journalist to a group chat in which officials discussed war plans.

President Donald Trump, accompanied by U.S. National Security Adviser Michael Waltz (R), takes a … More question from a reporter during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House on March 13.

Getty Images

Key Facts

Trump made the announcement in a Truth Social post Thursday afternoon, hours after reports first circulated that Waltz—and his deputy Alex Wong—would depart their roles.

In the post, Trump said Rubio will replace Waltz—who he said “has worked hard to put our Nation’s Interests first”—in the interim while still holding his role of secretary of state.

Some lawmakers called on Waltz to resign from his role after The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg said Waltz added him to a Signal group chat where Waltz and other Trump officials discussed upcoming strikes on Yemen.

Trump’s team tried to downplay the event, and the White House said Trump “continues to have the utmost confidence in his national security team.” Waltz was a House representative from Florida before Trump tapped him to serve as national security adviser.

Forbes has reached out to the White House for comment.

This story is developing and will be updated.

Get Forbes Breaking News Text Alerts: We’re launching text message alerts so you’ll always know the biggest stories shaping the day’s headlines. Text “Alerts” to (201) 335-0739 or sign up here.

What Was Mike Waltz’s Role In Signalgate?

Waltz created and added Goldberg to the group chat on Signal—an unclassified commercial messaging app—that included Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice President JD Vance, Director of Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, White House envoy Steve Witkoff and others.

What Did Waltz Say About The Signal Chat?

Waltz acknowledged the error in an interview on Fox News and took “full responsibility,” but said he had never met and didn’t know Goldberg, and that his number was stored under someone else’s name in his contacts. Waltz said it was “embarrassing” the administration was “looking into and reviewing how the heck he got into this room.” Waltz tried to explain how he had Goldberg’s contact information despite denying knowing him, and suggested Goldberg’s number was saved under someone else’s contact information in the Fox News interview. “If you have somebody else’s contact, and somehow it gets sucked in.” Waltz indicated he meant to add someone instead of Goldberg to the chat and that person never ended up in it, though he wouldn’t say who he intended to add.

What Did Trump Say About Waltz After The Signal Chat?

Trump told reporters the day after news of the leak broke that Waltz is “a very good man” and didn’t need to apologize for the mistake. Earlier that day, Trump told NBC News Waltz had “learned a lesson.” Amid Trump’s continued public support of Waltz, though, The Wall Street Journal reported Trump was “frustrated” and curious “how Waltz could be so sloppy,” and Politico reported officials were discussing whether Waltz should keep his post in the White House.

Key Background

Goldberg published an article in The Atlantic on March 24 revealing he had been mistakenly added to the Signal chat by Waltz. National Security spokesperson Brian Hughes told multiple outlets the conversation depicted by Goldberg “appears to be an authentic message chain.” Hegseth denied the chat was used to text war plans, leading Goldberg to publish a second article on March 26 documenting exactly what was sent in the chat. The White House said the following week it was “moving forward” from the scandal and the “case has been closed,” though the Defense Department inspector general has since announced he is looking into whether DoD policies were followed and if any classified information was shared. On March 21—after the Signal chat leak happened, but before it was made public—Hegseth’s chief of staff ordered “an investigation into unauthorized disclosures” in the department. In mid-April, three people in Hegseth’s inner circle were fired from the department in a move widely seen as being related to the leak investigation, though they put out a statement saying they had “not been told what exactly we were investigated for.” On April 20, former Pentagon spokesperson John Ullyot published an opinion piece in Politico alleging the Pentagon had been in “total chaos” for a month amid the leaks and firings and said “the building is in disarray under Hegseth’s leadership.”