US President Donald Trump on Thursday dismissed his national security adviser, Mike Waltz, in a significant shake-up of his administration’s inner circle, naming Secretary of State Marco Rubio as the interim replacement. This marks the first major change to Trump’s cabinet since his return to office in January.
Trump made the announcement in a social media post, stating that Waltz would be nominated as the next US ambassador to the United Nations. “He has worked hard to put our nation’s interests first,” Trump wrote.
Sources earlier confirmed Waltz’s removal from the national security post, citing internal dissatisfaction, particularly following his involvement in a March scandal linked to a Signal chat among top Trump aides.
In an unprecedented move, Rubio will now serve simultaneously as secretary of state and national security adviser, becoming the first to hold both positions since Henry Kissinger in the 1970s.
“When I have a problem, I call up Marco. He gets it solved,” Trump said during a White House event earlier on Thursday.
A source close to the matter revealed that Trump had delayed the move to surpass the 100-day milestone of his term before ousting a cabinet-level official. The decision came so abruptly that State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce reportedly learned of it from reporters during a briefing.
The national security adviser role, though powerful, does not require Senate confirmation. Waltz is the fifth person to occupy the position under Trump, following Michael Flynn, H.R. McMaster, John Bolton and Robert O’Brien in his first term.
Waltz’s deputy, Alex Wong—an Asia expert and former State Department official focused on North Korea—is also being removed, according to two individuals familiar with the situation.
The change concludes a month of upheaval within Trump’s national security team. Since April, over 20 National Security Council (NSC) staffers have been dismissed, the director of the National Security Agency has been removed, and three senior Pentagon political appointees have lost their posts.
Officials close to the administration say morale within national security circles has been seriously affected. Some agencies are reportedly short on experienced personnel, and attracting high-level talent has proven difficult.
The NSC plays a critical role in coordinating US security strategy and decision-making on global conflicts. Waltz’s removal follows backlash over an incident in which he mistakenly added The Atlantic’s editor to a private Signal thread discussing an imminent bombing campaign in Yemen. The magazine later published a report detailing the internal conversations.
Trump expressed dissatisfaction at a subsequent Cabinet meeting, stating that such discussions should occur in secure settings—signalling his displeasure despite public support for Waltz at the time.
Waltz had still attended Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting. A Reuters photograph captured him using the Signal app, with visible chats including Vice President JD Vance and Intelligence Chief Tulsi Gabbard.
Commenting on the photo, White House communications director Steven Cheung said: “Signal is an approved app that is loaded onto our government phones.”
Despite the turmoil, Trump has continued to back his defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, who was also connected to the Signal messaging controversy.
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