President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, Michael Waltz, and one of his top deputies, Alex Wong, stepped down Thursday, just over a month after the Signal chat fallout. But Waltz is not totally leaving Trump’s orbit; the president later announced he is nominating the former Florida congressman to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

Taking his place (for now) as interim national security adviser is Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is also serving as the acting head of USAID and the Archivist of the United States. For those keeping score, he now has four jobs. Busy guy!

White House officials initially debated whether Waltz should resign immediately following the leaked Signal chat controversy (more on that below), but President Trump reportedly didn’t want to give Democrats and the media a “win” at the time. He now believes enough time has passed to frame the move as a reorganization.

THE “SIGNALGATE” CONTROVERSY
Waltz came under fire for accidentally adding The Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg to a Signal group chat in mid-March, where more than a dozen of Trump’s national security officials discussed an upcoming military strike against the Houthis in Yemen.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sent strike details in the chat, including the time and locations of strikes, raising concerns about a national security breach.
- The Atlantic published the full chat, after first withholding it, at the end of March. Trump officials maintain there was nothing classified in the thread.
- After the mission, Waltz responded with the emojis.

Trump has previously stood by Waltz, calling him “a good man” who “learned a lesson.” No other Trump officials in the group chat were fired in the direct aftermath, making this the first major shake-up.

ARE WE SURPRISED?
The question remains why Waltz — and not Hegseth, who sent the sensitive information — is facing more backlash. It boils down to who Trump trusts.

Trump allies — including Chief of Staff Susie Wiles — had soured on Waltz even before the Signal leak. He and his aides appeared out-of-step with Trump on foreign policy issues around Ukraine and Iran.
Conservative social media influencer Laura Loomer visited the Oval Office following Signalgate and urged Trump to fire several National Security Council staffers under Michael Waltz, citing concerns about their loyalty. In the days that followed, more than half a dozen of them were dismissed.
- In response to today’s news, Loomer reportedly sent a one-word text to Politico: “Loomered.”

Bottom line: At the UN, Waltz won’t be as directly involved in White House day-to-day foreign policy decisions, but keeping him on the Trump team will project a unified front in the aftermath of the scandal.