- After reports circulated that national security adviser Mike Waltz had been ousted from the National Security Council, Trump announced Waltz is his pick to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
- Waltz faced criticism from Republicans and Democrats over security failures when he invited a journalist to join a Signal chat involving detailed attack plans.
- For the time being, Secretary of State Marco Rubio will take over as head of the National Security Council.
Multiple news organizations reported early on Thursday that President Donald Trump was ousting national security adviser Mike Waltz.
Fox News said it had confirmed that Waltz and his deputy, Alex Wong, were removed from the National Security Council.
While many believed Waltz was getting fired, Trump later posted to his social media platform, Truth Social, that he was actually nominating Waltz to be the next ambassador of the United States 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,” Trump wrote in his Thursday afternoon post.
Waltz’s history in military and politics
Waltz served as a Republican representative for Florida from 2019 to 2025. He was also the first Army Special Forces soldier to be elected to Congress. He had previously worked with the Bush administration as a defense policy director in the Pentagon and advised former Vice President Dick Cheney on counterterrorism measures.
Just days after his 2024 reelection to the U.S. House, Trump announced that he would appoint Waltz as national security adviser.
Waltz assumed the position in January and has since taken part in a number of high-profile initiatives, including working alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff to negotiate peace for the war in Ukraine and visiting Greenland in March 2025, which was criticized by Greenlanders.
Also in March, Jeffrey Goldberg, who serves as editor-in-chief of political magazine The Atlantic, reported that he had been accidentally added to a Signal group chat with national security leaders, including Waltz, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
Via the group chat, Hegseth shared details of upcoming strikes on Houthi forces.
Waltz took full responsibility for accidentally including a journalist in the group chat.
“I built the group,” he told Fox News. “It’s embarrassing. We’re going to get to the bottom of it.”
Trump initially waived invitations to condemn the members of the group chat.
After a Thursday morning filled with rumors that Trump was finally acquiescing to in- and out-party demands by firing Waltz, the revelation that Waltz will actually be moved to another prominent role appears to show Trump still supports his outgoing national security adviser.
Trump is shuffling his appointees. Who’s going where?
In his Truth Social post, Trump indicated that Secretary of State Marco Rubio will serve as the interim head of the White House National Security Council, while also fulfilling his duties at the State Department.
It is unclear who will permanently replace Waltz in the role.
Witkoff’s name has been floated, several sources told Politico, though he is currently wrapped up in peace negotiations with Russia, Iran and Hamas. National Security Council senior director for counterterrorism Sebastian Gorka was also raised as an option. So is foreign policy chief Stephen Miller and special envoy Richard Grenell.
Trump had previously nominated Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., to serve as the American ambassador to the United Nations. He withdrew the nomination in March in an apparent effort to preserve the GOP’s slim majority in the House of Representatives.