Your Trusted Source for National Security News & Analysis

May 12th, 2025 | 10:06 AM ET

Waltz, Rubio and the National Security Shakeup

The last person to hold both national security posts was Henry Kissinger. The world has changed since then.

U.S. President Donald Trump, accompanied by U.S. National Security Adviser Michael Waltz (R), takes a question from a reporter during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte (L) in the Oval Office of the White House on March 13, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Tweet
Share
Pin
Share
0 Shares
Posted: May 2nd, 2025

By Tom Nagorski

Tom Nagorski is the Managing Editor for The Cipher Brief.  He previously served as Global Editor for Grid and served as ABC News Managing Editor for International Coverage as well as Senior Broadcast Producer for World News Tonight.

CIPHER BRIEF REPORTING – The announcement was made on the 101st day of the second Trump administration, and while some insiders said they saw it coming, it caught even some administration officials by surprise. President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that Mike Waltz was no longer his National Security Advisor – that job would go to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, on at least an interim basis – and that Waltz would be nominated to be the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. 

Such high-level shakeups were common during the first Trump administration – he had four National Security Advisors during those four years, and fired the first of them, Michael Flynn, less than one month into his term. But this was the first major shakeup since Trump’s second inaugural.

Access all of The Cipher Brief’s national security-focused expert insight by becoming a Cipher Brief Subscriber+ Member.

Sign Up Log In

Categorized as:national security ReportingTagged with:

Related Articles

Search

Close