Marco Rubio to serve as acting NSA; Mike Waltz removed by President Trump
Mike Waltz out: Moving from national security adviser to UN ambassador
Former Florida Senator and current Secretary of State Marco Rubio will serve as the acting national security adviser. The news came only a few short hours after Mike Waltz was removed from his role as President Trump's top NSA. Waltz will now serve as the United Nations ambassador.
Former Florida Senator and current Secretary of State Marco Rubio will serve as the acting national security adviser, according to a post made by President Donald Trump on True Social on Thursday.
The news came only a few short hours after Mike Waltz was removed from his role as Trump's top NSA. Trump said Waltz will now serve as the United Nations ambassador.
Trump names Rubio as acting NSA
What they're saying:
"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 his post on Thursday. "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. 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.’ Thank you for your attention to this matter!"
"I'm deeply honored to continue my service to President Trump and our great nation," Waltz said in response.
Who is Marco Rubio?
Local perspective:
Rubio, an American politician, serves as the 72nd U.S. Secretary of State. He was nominated by Trump to serve during his second term as president.
Rubio represented Florida in the Senate from 2011 to 2025.
Before his election in 2010, Rubio served as a city commissioner in West Miami and as speaker of the Florida House of Representatives.
He was born in 1971 in Miami, Florida, to two immigrant parents from Cuba. He watched his father work as a banquet bartender, while his mother juggled caring for the family at home and working as a hotel maid and briefly in a local factory.
WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES - JANUARY 20: Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) speaks to the press following a unanimous confirmation vote to be Secretary of State in the Senate in Washington, DC, United States on January 20, 2025. The US Senate voted to con
Why is Mike Waltz out?
The backstory:
Waltz's exit comes weeks after he mistakenly invited a journalist into a chat between top national security officials discussing plans for Yemen airstrikes.
Trump initially supported Waltz after his national security adviser and other members denied sharing any classified war plans on the publicly available app Signal.
The chat came to light when Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, released a March 24 story detailing how Waltz accidentally invited him into the chat.
Trump officials reportedly texted war plans in group chat
The Trump administration's top intelligence officials are being pressed to explain how sensitive war plans were discussed in a text thread on the Signal messaging platform
Goldberg noted in his story that top officials in the chat discussed military plans to attack the Houthi militant group in Yemen, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth sent a message sharing strike times by U.S. warplanes and drones, USA Today reported, citing the article.
In March, FOX News reported that Trump was not planning to fire Waltz after the release of The Atlantic article. "He’s not getting fired," Trump told Fox News. The president said the incident was a "mistake," though there was "nothing important" in the Signal text thread.
This is a developing story. Check back later for more updates.
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The Source: This story was written based on information shared by FOX News and by President Donald Trump in a Truth Social post on May 1, 2025.