Waltz moved, Rubio given another role: What to know about Trump's reshuffling of team
WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump shuffled his national security team on May 1, announcing he intends to move Mike Waltz from his role as national security adviser and nominate him as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
Although Waltz has retained a role in the administration, his ouster as national security adviser makes him the first high-ranking official to depart a post since Trump's Jan. 20 inauguration.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio will temporarily serve as national security advisor.
Here's what we know about the shake-up:
Waltz was at center of Signalgate fiasco
Although Trump did not immediately provide a reason for targeting Waltz, the shuffling comes weeks after he invited a journalist into a Signal chat among top national security officials discussing plans for Yemen airstrikes.
Still, Trump has defended Waltz publicly, and he applauded Waltz in announcing his intent to nominate him to the U.N.
"From his time in uniform on the battlefield, in Congress and, as my National Security Adviser, Mike Waltz has worked hard to put our Nation’s Interests first," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
Trump did not respond to shouted questions from reporters about Waltz as he boarded Marine One on his way to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where he's speaking to graduates of the University of Alabama.
Vice President JD Vance said May 1 in a Fox News interview that the Signal controversy didn’t play a role in Trump’s decision to shift Waltz to a different position. He said Trump still trusts Waltz, and that in moving him to a Senate-confirmed position “you could make a good argument” the president is promoting him.
“He has my complete trust and I know the president really likes Mike Waltz, he just thought that the UN ambassador position would be a better place for Mike Waltz to be,” Vance said.
Rubio replaces Waltz, adding to his many hats
Trump said Secretary of State Marco Rubio will serve as national security adviser on an interim basis while continuing to lead the State Department.
It mirrors the arrangement of Henry Kissinger, who was the first person to simultaneously hold the two positions during the Nixon administration.
The move adds a fourth role for the former Republican senator from Florida in the Trump administration. Rubio is also serving as acting administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, after Trump gutted the agency, as well as acting archivist of the United States.
Waltz fills nomination previously held by Stefanik
Trump had previously picked U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-New York, for the UN ambassadorship, but she withdrew her nomination when a series of special elections jeopardized Republicans' slim majority in the House. The position requires Senate confirmation.
"I’m deeply honored to continue my service to President Trump and our great nation," Waltz said in a statement.
Ouster is the first of Trump's second term
Trump was known to fire top White House officials on a routine basis during his first term. That includes the first national security adviser of his first term, Michael Flynn, who was fired in February 2017 after just 24 days in the position.
Trump had reportedly previously resisted some advisors' urging him to fire Waltz over the Signal leak because he didn't want to give his critics the satisfaction.
Sudden shakeup surprises even Trump officials
Trump's decision to move Waltz to the U.N. role ‒ and name Rubio the temporary national security adviser ‒ caught even Trump officials off guard.
State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce was alerted to the personnel shuffle by reporters during a press briefing when Trump announced the moves.
"Well, there you go ‒ fabulous," Bruce told reporters. "It is clear I just heard this from you."
Laura Loomer looms over changes
The reshuffling of Waltz comes after conservative podcast host and influencer Laura Loomer has exerted increasing sway in Trump's decision-making, including recently successfully encouraging Trump to fire at least four senior officials on the National Security Council after a White House visit.
Loomer, on a podcast hosted by reporter Tara Palmeri, recounted a recent Oval Office visit with Trump, saying she was prepared to show the president footage from his 2016 campaign of Waltz criticizing him for remarks he made about U.S. service members.
"I was about to show this video of Michael Waltz, and then President Trump walked into the Oval Office," Loomer said, adding that she has kept it on her phone for "many years."
Waltz has said he takes 'full responsibility' for Signalgate
On the day of the initial Atlantic report revealing the Signal chat, Waltz said he took "full responsibility" for the "embarrassing" blunder. "We're going to get to the bottom of it," he told Laura Ingraham on Fox News.
Waltz mistakenly added Jeffrey Goldberg, editor of The Atlantic magainze, to a chat on the encrypted messaging app Signal in mid-March that included Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard, and Vice President JD Vance, among other members of the Trump administration's top echelon.
In the chat, Hegseth shared sensitive details about imminent airstrikes the U.S. carried out in Yemen targeting Iran-backed Houthi sites. Both Hegseth and Waltz have denied sharing "war plans."
Waltz still using Signal app, photos suggest
Waltz has seemingly not given up his use of Signal.
Photos of Waltz from a Reuters photographer captured him looking at Signal during an April 30 Trump Cabinet meeting including recent communications with Vance, Gabbard and Steve Witkoff, Trump's special envoy to the Middle East.
"Signal is an approved app that is loaded onto our government phones. Thank you for your attention to this matter," White House communications director Steven Cheung said in a post on X.
Who is Mike Waltz?
Watlz, a 51-year-old former member of the Army’s Green Berets, served three terms representing the 6th Congressional District in north-central Florida. He was replaced in Congress by Republican Randy Fine, who won a special election in March.
Waltz was initially elected to the House in 2018, replacing Ron DeSantis after his rise to Florida governor. An officer in the Army National Guard, Waltz had served in combat zones multiple times.
He had been a defense policy director in the Pentagon before being tapped by Vice President Dick Cheney as a counterterrorism adviser in the George W. Bush administration. Waltz retired from the National Guard last fall at the rank of colonel.
Contributing: Zac Anderson
Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.