Mike Waltz’s reported fall from grace turned into a higher-profile job Thursday when President Trump announced he was nominating him as ambassador to the United Nations. This moves him out of his post as White House national security adviser in an administration shake-up.
Mr. Trump said on social media that Mr. Waltz “has worked hard to put our Nation’s Interests first. I know he will do the same in his new role.”
The announcement pulled the rug out from under Capitol Hill Democrats, who were celebrating the Washington press corps’ early misreporting that Mr. Waltz had been fired.
The president said Secretary of State Marco Rubio will serve as interim national security adviser while maintaining his role as America’s top diplomat.
Mr. Waltz said on social media that he was “deeply honored to continue my service to President Trump and our great nation.”
Last month, Mr. Waltz took the blame for accidentally inviting a journalist into a Signal group chat in which top officials discussed plans for an imminent U.S. military attack on Houthi rebels in Yemen.
SEE ALSO: Mike Waltz out as national security adviser
The U.N. job opened after Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York withdrew her nomination to help bolster House Republicans’ slim majority.
The president also plucked Mr. Waltz from Congress for the White House post. Mr. Waltz had served three terms representing Florida’s 6th Congressional District before taking the national security adviser position.
State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said she learned about Mr. Rubio’s new duties while briefing the press.
“One thing I’ve learned is that things don’t happen until the president says they’re going to happen,” Ms. Bruce told reporters at the State Department. “That is the miracle of modern technology and the social media.”
She said it was an “exciting moment here.”
Sen. Rick Scott, a Florida Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee that will hold Mr. Waltz’s confirmation hearing, welcomed his nomination.
“Congratulations to my friend and fellow Floridian,
@MikeWaltz47! Mike will do a great job at the
@UN, working with our allies and putting America first,” Mr. Scott said on social media.
Ms. Stefanik was primed to become U.N. ambassador and even resigned as chair of the House Republican Conference. Mr. Trump pulled her nomination in March amid concerns that a vacancy in her New York seat could mean a loss for the razor-thin Republican majority in the House.
Earlier reports Thursday said Mr. Waltz and his deputy, Alex Wong, were being fired from the position.
Mr. Waltz’s position was first questioned after “Signalgate,” when he inadvertently added Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, to the Signal group chat about bombing Houthis in Yemen.
After the missile strikes, Mr. Goldberg published a story about what he learned in the chat.
Vice President J.D. Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard were also in the chat.
The administration denied that any classified information was shared, but Mr. Goldberg published some of the messages, including the time of the strikes.
The messages include a text from Mr. Hegseth with the times and sequencing of planned U.S. strikes against Houthi rebels.
Mr. Waltz later took “full responsibility” for the incident, but Mr. Trump stuck by him and didn’t ask anyone to step down.
Mr. Vance said Mr. Goldberg “oversold what he had.”
The administration maintained that the news media exaggerated the story’s significance and the most crucial point was that the Houthi attack was successful.
Democrats said the incident was a firing offense and were frustrated that the president didn’t act accordingly. They made Mr. Hegseth the chief target of blame for the error.
After the initial reports, Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, said firing Mr. Waltz was the right decision, but “they’re firing the wrong guy. They should be firing Hegseth.”
“This is not a one-off. This is going to happen over and over and over again. And so I think they got to get rid of Hegseth. And if they were smart, they’d get rid of them right away,” Mr. Schumer said.
Democrats mostly fell silent after Mr. Trump announced the ambassador nomination for Mr. Waltz.
The Senate confirmation process will expose Mr. Waltz to more questions about the Signal mishap. Many of Mr. Trump’s nominees have weathered contentious confirmation hearings, and this one will likely be no different.
On social media, Sen. Christopher A. Coons reposted a photo from a reporter showing Mr. Waltz’s phone on the Signal app during a Cabinet meeting. It showed snippets of messages from Mr. Rubio, special envoy Steke Witkoff, Ms. Gabbard and Mr. Vance.
In the caption, the Connecticut Democrat wrote, “I look forward to a thorough confirmation hearing.”
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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