President Donald Trump has removed Mike Waltz from his position as national security adviser after just 102 days in office, according to statements made by Vice President JD Vance on Thursday.
The abrupt change represents the first major White House staff shakeup in Trump’s second administration.
Waltz has instead been nominated to serve as ambassador to the United Nations, a position that will require Senate confirmation before he can assume the role.
The nomination comes as a surprise to many Washington insiders who had not anticipated such a significant reorganization this early in the administration.
Speaking to Fox News “Special Report” host Bret Baier, VP Vance defended the decision, characterizing it as a strategic reshuffling rather than a dismissal.
The vice president’s remarks appeared designed to counter speculation about internal discord within the administration’s national security team.
“We brought Mike on to do some serious reforms of the National Security Council. He has done that,” Vance stated during the interview.
The veep emphasized his personal regard for Waltz, saying, “I like Mike. I think he’s a great guy. He’s got the trust of both me and the president.”
Vance further explained the administration’s rationale, adding that they “thought that he’d make a better UN ambassador as we get beyond this stage of the reforms that we’ve made to the National Security Council.”
He went even further in his characterization of the move, stating, “I think you can make a good argument that it’s a promotion.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio will temporarily fill the national security adviser position while maintaining his duties as America’s top diplomat, according to the announcement made earlier Thursday.
Vance pushed back forcefully against media characterizations of the move as a firing, telling Baier, “I think the media wants to frame this as a firing.”
“Donald Trump has fired a lot of people. He doesn’t give them Senate-confirmed appointments afterwards,” Vance continued, defending the decision.
“What he thinks is that Mike Waltz is going to better serve the administration, most importantly, the American people in that role.”
The New York Post reported that the announcement apparently caught many White House insiders by surprise, as few anticipated Waltz would be removed from his national security role or tapped for the UN ambassador position.
Originally, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) had been selected for the UN ambassador position but was ultimately instructed to remain in Congress to help maintain the Republican majority in the House.
Waltz’s departure marks the first major staff change in the second Trump administration, coming after a relatively brief tenure in one of the White House’s most critical foreign policy positions.
His 102-day service is notably short for a position that typically provides crucial continuity in national security matters.
The decision follows a recent incident in which Waltz mistakenly added Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg to a Signal chat where administration officials were discussing military strikes against Houthi forces in Yemen.
Sources close to the situation indicated the president may have deliberately delayed moving Waltz to demonstrate Trump’s ultimate authority in decision-making.
These sources suggest the timing of the announcement was calculated to reinforce the President’s command over his national security team.
Vance, who was also part of the Signal chat controversy, had previously expressed skepticism about conducting strikes against the Houthis, suggesting the United States was “bailing Europe out again.”
However, during Thursday’s Fox News interview, Vance downplayed these comments, claiming they were related to messaging strategy rather than policy disagreement.
“If you go back to when those messages were leaked, what we were doing is having a private strategic conversation about how to message this to the American people,” Vance explained to Baier.
“It’s always important to explain what you’re actually doing, how to ensure that some of the frankly, our allied countries that are under spending on their own defense, are actually carrying some of the burden. That was a concern that I raised about this particular operation, but I wasn’t overruled,” the vice president concluded.
The post West Wing Shakeup: Trump Booting National Security Adviser After Just 102 Days is Really a ‘Promotion,’ Vance Claims appeared first on Resist the Mainstream.
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Author: Jordyn M.
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