U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he is nominating Mike Waltz, the U.S. national security adviser, to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
Trump did not say explicitly that he was firing Waltz, which was widely reported in the press, but said that Marco Rubio, the U.S. secretary of state, will also serve as interim national security adviser.
A former Florida congressman, Waltz has been under fire since it emerged in March that he inadvertently added the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg, to an internal group chat of the national security council’s principals committee. In the chat, members of the Trump administration discussed planned U.S. airstrikes against the Houthis in Yemen.
“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,” Trump stated. “I know he will do the same in his new role.”
Trump repeatedly declined to answer shouted questions about Waltz on Thursday from the White House press pool. (JNS sought comment from the White House.)
As a congressman, Waltz was noted for being a hawkish opponent of Iran and a staunch supporter of Israel. Trump had previously told reporters that he intended to stick by his national security advisor after the revelations about the Yemen group chat.
“Michael Waltz has learned a lesson, and he’s a good man,” Trump told NBC in March.
Danny Danon, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, congratulated Waltz, whom he called “a true friend of the State of Israel and of the Jewish people.”
“We will stand together against the forces of lies and hatred at the United Nations,” Dannon stated. “Israel and the United States are allies, who share common values and who also share common threats. Our alliance is stronger than ever, especially in the face of the hypocrisy and moral decay that characterizes several U.N. institutions.”
The reported firing of Waltz and his deputy, Alex Wong, is part of the latest shakeup in Trump’s national security team after repeated, high-profile firings of senior officials in the new administration’s first 100 days.
The president named Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) as his nominee for the U.N. ambassadorship before taking office in November, but pulled her nomination on March 27 amid concerns about preserving the slim Republican majority in the House.
In April, Trump fired the heads of the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command and several National Security Council staffers.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who has also come under scrutiny for the information he shared on the group chat that Waltz created, has fired many of his closest aides, including his chief of staff.
Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, told reporters on April 22 that the staffers were fired for leaking information to the media.
Democrats called on Thursday for additional firings in the Trump administration.
“Next up? The woefully unqualified secretary of defense must resign or be fired immediately,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) wrote.
