Vice President JD Vance has defended the nomination of Mike Waltz, the recently removed National Security Advisor, to become the next US ambassador to the United Nations, Fox News reports.
Vance asserted that Waltz enjoys the full trust of both himself and President Donald Trump, calling the potential ambassadorship a “promotion.”
Speaking in an exclusive interview on “Special Report” from the Nucor Steel Berkeley plant in South Carolina, Vance stated:
“I think you could make a good argument that it’s a promotion. We brought Mike on to do some serious reforms at the National Security Council. He has done that.”
Vance explained that the White House believes Waltz will be more effective serving the administration in the Senate-confirmed UN ambassador role.
Waltz’s departure from the NSA role comes nearly four months after he resigned from his Florida congressional seat to assume the White House position. His tenure as NSA was marked by scrutiny following the creation of a group chat on the encrypted messaging app Signal, where sensitive information regarding pending strikes against the Houthis in Yemen was shared.
The situation gained attention after Waltz inadvertently added The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg to the “Houthi PC small group” on Signal. Within the chat, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly shared information about the timing of US military strikes in Yemen. While Hegseth maintains that the information shared was not classified, Democrats have questioned whether details regarding targets and strike timing could have been unclassified given their sensitive nature. The Pentagon’s acting inspector general is currently investigating Hegseth’s use of Signal.
Vance dismissed the “Signalgate” controversy as a “nothingburger,” asserting that Waltz’s removal as NSA was not related to the incident. He maintained that Trump simply believes Waltz would be more effective in a different role within the administration.
Vance was also a member of the Signal group chat, along with DNI Tulsi Gabbard, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and other senior Trump administration officials. In the chat, Vance expressed his disagreement with the strikes, arguing they could be seen as “inconsistent” with Trump’s foreign policy messaging regarding European allies taking greater responsibility for their own defense. He viewed the strikes as “bailing” Europe out.
Vance defended his participation in the Signal chat, saying it demonstrated his willingness to engage in dialogue with other administration officials about implementing the president’s agenda effectively.
The US has been conducting strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen for over 40 days. According to US Central Command (CENTCOM), Operation Rough Rider has resulted in strikes on over 800 targets, killing hundreds of Houthi fighters and numerous leaders, including senior missile and UAV officials.
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