Trump nominates Mike Waltz to serve as UN ambassador

United States President Donald Trump has tapped Mike Waltz to become the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations — a move that could make Waltz, who was ousted from his role as national security adviser Thursday morning, one of the administration’s most visible voices on the global stage. “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,” said Trump on his social media platform, Truth Social. “I know he will do the same in his new role.” Despite that, there were reports that Trump himself pulled Waltz from his national security role on Thursday morning, replacing him with Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the most high-level shake-up of Trump’s inner circle so far. Waltz was the official at the heart of the so-called Signalgate scandal, where the former national security adviser accidentally added journalist Jeffrey Goldberg — the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic — into a group chat discussing U.S. war plans in Yemen this March. “Everyone in New York has heard about Signalgate, and there will be obvious concerns,” said Robert Wood, who held the role of deputy U.S. ambassador to the U.N. during the Biden administration. “Given he has no prior U.N. or multilateral experience, he will have to rely very strongly on the U.S. U.N. staff — and the U.N. is a steep learning curve.” Hours before the U.S. began dropping bombs in Yemen, Goldberg had access to “precise information about weapons packages, targets, and timing,” the journalist later wrote — and despite what was soon seen as a sweeping security breach, Trump soon told journalists that Waltz shouldn’t apologize for the gaffe, and that Waltz was “doing his best.” Waltz later told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham that he didn’t know Goldberg aside from “his horrible reputation,” and stated that the journalist’s phone number was “sucked in” to his phone. Even so, Waltz told Ingraham that he was taking “full responsibility” for the mishap. And now, Waltz is teed up for the United States’ top U.N. post. Waltz needs Senate confirmation to become the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. — the official who represents U.S. interests, leads diplomatic efforts, and shapes global policy at the multilateral body. It’s a role that’s been vacant since the president pulled his earlier choice, Rep. Elise Stefanik, a Republican from New York, from the nomination list in March. Under the Biden administration, the role had been filled by Linda Thomas-Greenfield, a former top State Department official and diplomat with more than 30 years of experience in foreign service. Before becoming Trump’s national security adviser in late January, Waltz represented Florida’s sixth congressional district in the House of Representatives. Throughout his six years as a U.S. representative, Waltz served on committees focused on foreign affairs, armed services, intelligence, and oversight and accountability. Before that, Waltz served more than 20 years in the U.S. Army and worked as the defense policy director and the vice president’s counterterrorism adviser during the George W. Bush administration. “In that job as permanent representative, you need strong diplomatic skills,” said Wood. “You’ve got to be able to build coalitions, and sometimes you have to tell the White House things they may not want to hear. So we’ll have to see.” Until Waltz’s replacement for national security adviser is confirmed, Trump said that Secretary of State Marco Rubio will take on Waltz’s former role. Rubio now holds four top roles within the Trump administration: secretary of state; acting national security adviser; acting administrator of the now-defunct USAID; and acting archivist at the National Archives and Records Administration, the federal agency that preserves the records of the U.S. government. “Together, we will continue to fight tirelessly to Make America, and the World, SAFE AGAIN,” wrote Trump in the social media post. “Thank you for your attention to this matter!”