Mike Waltz, a former Florida congressman [who represented Flagler County] and became known for sharing U.S. plans to strike Yemen on a Signal group chat, was out as White House national security adviser on Thursday.
President Donald Trump announced he will instead nominate Waltz to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, a position that requires U.S. Senate confirmation.
“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 on his social media site, Truth Social.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a former U.S. senator from Florida, will step into the role of national security adviser, according to Trump.
“Together, we will continue to fight tirelessly to Make America, and the World, SAFE AGAIN. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” the president wrote.
Strikes on Houthi rebels
Waltz’s apparent ouster from the National Security Council occurred five weeks after what became known as Signalgate.
The Atlantic magazine’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, revealed Waltz had invited him, presumably by mistake, to a group chat of high-level officials that included Vice President J.D. Vance, discussing specific plans for strikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other Cabinet members denied that any classified information was shared in the chat on the commercially available app Signal, prompting Goldberg to release the chat transcript that detailed specific times and locations of the military strikes ahead of their scheduled launch.
In the group chat on March 15, Waltz wrote “amazing job,” minutes after missiles landed, followed by emojis for a fist, an American flag and fire, according to Goldberg, who watched the Signal group messages in real time minutes before news of U.S. bombs in Yemen became public.
The New York Times has since revealed that Hegseth shared details about the same Yemen strikes in a separate Signal group chat that included his wife, brother and personal lawyer. Hegseth has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
When contacted for details surrounding Waltz’s departure from the NSC, the White House directed States Newsroom to the president’s Truth Social account.
Senate confirmation votes ahead
Waltz will now face hearings and votes before senators for a post that Trump originally designated for New York U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik. Stefanik withdrew from the running to remain among the House Republican ranks as insurance against the party’s razor-thin margin.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, characterized Waltz’s exit as an “abrupt dismissal” that is “further proof of the chaos and incompetence that has reigned over President Trump’s White House and national security team during his first 100 days in office.”
“The stunning amount of turnover of senior staff at both the National Security Council and at the Pentagon is alarming. Purges of senior military officers, mass firings of top career officials for perceived political disloyalty and the illegal dismantling of America’s foreign policy institutions only hurts our security and signals weakness to our foes,” Shaheen, of New Hampshire, said in a statement Thursday, while calling for accountability for those sharing information on unsecured channels.
Shaheen further added, “We should remember that it was Secretary Hegseth who initially shared this material and did so a second time with his family. He too must be held accountable.”
–Ashley Murray, Florida Phoenix
