Trump national security advisor Mike Waltz nominated for UN ambassador role

As was the case during US President Donald Trump's first term in 2017, his national security advisor appeared to be the first of the inner circle to go, after weeks of being hounded by critics over the war plans group chat scandal, dubbed Signalgate.

Instead, in a stunning turn on Wednesday, former Florida Congressman Mike Waltz has now been nominated by Trump to become the US ambassador to the United Nations in New York. 

"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 said in a post on his social media platform, TruthSocial.

"In the interim, Secretary of State Marco Rubio will serve as National Security Advisor, while continuing his strong leadership at the State Department. Together, we will continue to fight tirelessly to Make America, and the World, SAFE AGAIN."

Rubio now formally holds three portfolios: secretary of state, national security advisor and administrator of the United States Agency for International Development. 

The UN ambassadorship must be confirmed by a Senate vote. The nomination remained unfilled for several weeks after Trump withdrew his first choice, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, to maintain a Republican majority in the House of Representatives. 

At her confirmation hearing, Stefanik made it clear that her mission would be to stand up for Israel at the UN.

Waltz is not expected to be too different. In 2023, he insisted the US must not stop Israel from striking Iran if it chooses to, and signed a letter threatening to punish Qatar if it didn't force Hamas to release all the Israeli captives in Gaza. 

The group chat

In 2017, national security advisor Mike Flynn barely lasted a month at the White House before he landed in hot water for lying to Trump and Vice President Mike Pence about his contacts with Russian officials. 

Waltz, 51, was reportedly about to be forced out due to the Signalgate scandal, in which he added a high-profile journalist to what appeared to be a top-secret group chat on the Signal app in March.

That 18-person chat was largely made up of members of Trump's cabinet, and even included the CIA director. The subject was the impending air strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, which began on 15 March and have continued every night since. 

The journalist in question, Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic, published the screenshots. He said Waltz had sent him a message request, which he accepted. 

Waltz insisted that he'd never met Goldberg, suggested it was some kind of technical error, and described him as "the bottom scum of journalists". 

The damage, however, was already done. The screenshots showed that Waltz was also the administrator of the group, and he never actually removed Goldberg.

Goldberg eventually saw himself out. 

"The first target - their top missile guy - we had positive ID of him walking into his girlfriend's building and it's now collapsed," Waltz said of the Houthis in the chat, according to the screenshots. 

After Vice President JD Vance responded, "Excellent," Waltz then sent a fist-bump emoji, an American flag emoji, and a fire emoji. He had been a key cheerleader of the bombing campaign, whereas Vance had suggested earlier that perhaps the optics may not work in Trump's favour. 

There was also the matter of using Signal to begin with. Communications about the Pentagon's operations are typically carried out in designated secure rooms or on pre-authorised lines. 

And while Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth also featured heavily in the screenshots and shared the exact timing of the surprise attacks, it appears he still has Trump's support. Hegseth remains under fire from critics for reportedly including his wife in classified conversations. 

His post, however, requires Senate confirmation, whereas the national security advisor does not. It is a role filled solely by the president. 

Hegseth's senate confirmation came down to a tie that Vance had to break in order to give him the job. Another nomination and confirmation process could be an uphill battle - so Waltz was likely to take the fall. 

In response to initial reports that Waltz was being axed, the chair of the Democratic National Committee urged Trump to fire Hegseth next.

“Donald Trump is putting our national security at risk by leaving it in the incapable hands of unqualified stooges who have repeatedly and recklessly exposed sensitive military information," Ken Martin said in a statement on Wednesday.

"In just 100 days, Trump has humiliated himself, embarrassed our military, and put our service members at risk."

Hawk

Trump’s administration is also divided between more traditional Republicans, such as Waltz and Secretary of State Rubio, and “America First” isolationists, including White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.

Some of Trump’s closest media allies and supporters have repeatedly said that "Mossad agents" and "warmongers" are pushing the US into a conflict with Iran. Trump has publicly indicated this is not the route he wants to take, going so far as to personally pen a letter to Iran's supreme leader. 

Waltz has a history of being a hawk.

In September 2024, he told Fox News that the Biden administration is wasting its time trying to get a ceasefire in Gaza, because the focus should be on Iran.

"Iran will continue to stoke unrest because they want to destroy Israel, and look, making concession after concession to Iran is actually what is destabilising the situation," he said.

On his podcast Redacted, conservative commentator Clayton Morris said of new White House hire Merav Ceren: “Neo-con Mike Waltz has now hired basically a dual citizen and former IDF official to work under him.”

The coverage reflects a growing trend in the US to view Israel with scepticism, which has intensified since the Hamas-led 7 October 2023 attacks on southern Israel, which then led to Israel's war on Gaza. 

Waltz is married to an Arab-American of Jordanian descent, Julia Nesheiwat. She is a US Army veteran and was a homeland security advisor during Trump's first term.