President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he would nominate his national security adviser, Mike Waltz, to become the US ambassador to the UN.
"I am pleased to announce that I will be nominating Mike Waltz to be the next United States Ambassador to the United Nations," Trump said in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social.
The announcement came hours after reports that Waltz and his deputy, Alex Wong, would be stepping down from their current roles, following mounting pressure over Waltz's role in the Signalgate scandal.
They are the first reported departures from President Trump's Cabinet just over 100 days into his presidency.
Waltz' appointment as ambassador to the UN will still require confirmation from Congress.
The reluctance to fire Waltz appeared to be an attempt to distance the new Trump presidency from his first run which was mired by a frequent turnover of staff.
Why is Trump giving Waltz a new job?
In March, Waltz claimed "full responsibility" for erroneously adding a journalist to a group messaging chat in which senior members of President Donald Trump's administration discussed impending military strikes in Yemen.
Waltz said he didn't personally know The Atlantic's editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, adding he wasn't sure how he ended up in the highly sensitive chat on Signal.
At the time, Trump downplayed the lapse which he said "turned out not to be a serious one" and "the only glitch in two months," while expressing his continued support for Waltz.
In his Thursday announcement, Trump did not mention the scandal, instead saying: "Mike Waltz has worked hard to put our Nation’s Interests first. I know he will do the same in his new role."
It was not clear yet who would replace the 51-year-old former Republican lawmaker from Florida. One source suggested to Reuters that Steve Witkoff, who has been involved in both the Middle East and the war in Ukraine could be an option.
However, Trump said that: "In the interim, Secretary of State Marco Rubio will serve as National Security Advisor."
What was Signalgate?
Signalgate, for which Waltz was considered the main person responsible, was a major embarrassment for the Trump administration.
It revolved around a chat on the Signal messaging platform that was being used to discuss imminent military strikes in Yemen.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, one of the several top Trump administration officials who were in the chat, shared details of the timing of several strikes targeting a member of the Houthi militant group.
The following is a part of the timeline he posted in the group, unaware that a journalist was also present:
"1215et: F-18s LAUNCH (1st strike package)"
"1345: 'Trigger Based' F-18 1st Strike Window Starts (Target Terrorist is @ his Known Location so SHOULD BE ON TIME."
The White House initially attacked Goldberg for publishing several details on the chat, with Trump calling it a "hoax." This led the editor-in-chief to publish the full transcript of the chat.
Prior to the this, Waltz had said the chat contained "no locations," "no sources and methods," and "no war plans."
