Latest news with #MichaelWaltz
New York Times
15-07-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Waltz, in U.N. Ambassador Hearing, Defends Signal Group Chat
President Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Waltz, was pressed by Democrats on Capitol Hill on Tuesday but did not acknowledge any wrongdoing related to a sensitive group chat on the commercial messaging app Signal in March. Mr. Waltz, during a hearing on his nomination to serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, repeated the Trump administration's defenses of the group chat where senior officials discussed sensitive details of a military operation in Yemen. He was ousted from his national security position following the revelation that he added a journalist to the group chat that included Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other top officials. Mr. Waltz told lawmakers that 'there was no classified information on that chat,' and did not address why he added the journalist to the discussion on Signal. It was the first time Mr. Waltz had appeared before Congress since he was removed from his post. Mr. Trump passed the national security adviser role to Mr. Rubio and nominated Mr. Waltz for the U.N. role in May. Mr. Waltz echoed the Trump administration's defense over the use of Signal, saying that the app was recommended by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency during the Biden administration. In December, the agency directed 'highly targeted individuals' in senior positions to use messaging apps with 'end-to-end encryption, such as Signal' as a safer alternative to SMS text messaging. But Democrats told Mr. Waltz that he and other top officials should have known better than to share war plans over a commercial messaging app, and pressed him to take responsibility for what Senator Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, called an 'amateur move.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Former Trump adviser Mike Waltz faces 'Signalgate' grilling in Senate hearing for UN post
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump cast his dismissal of Michael Waltz as a step up when he reassigned the Republican at the center of the "Signalgate" to a plumb ambassador position. Waltz would leave the National Security Council, he said, to become his nominee for United States ambassador to the United Nations. 'You could make a good argument that it's a promotion," Vice President JD Vance said. The Senate-confirmed position is higher profile. And it comes with a cushy New York apartment. But unlike eight years ago, when future presidential candidate Nikki Haley held the job, Trump has decided against making it a top role. That could help Waltz, who's expected to get a grilling from Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, at his nomination hearing on July 15. The lower designation will allow Waltz to testify alongside two other Trump nominees. Waltz's testimony will still be the focal point of the hearing. The former Trump aide was one of the president's more hawkish advisers. He is almost certain to face difficult questions about the president's approach to foes such as Russia and Iran — not to mention Trump's criticisms of United Nations leadership and his withdrawal from the institution's human rights council. "This will be a chance for senators to question the former national security advisor and nominee to be U.N. ambassador, which has historically been a significant foreign policy post," Sen. Chris Coons, a Democrat who sits on the committee, told USA TODAY last week. He said that likely topics will be Ukraine, the conflict in the Middle East and ongoing tension between the U.S. and its allies over Trump's stinging tariffs. Still, the toughest questions Waltz could face are over the text messages in which senior officials discussed strikes on Houthi militants in Yemen before they'd happened. Waltz inadvertently invited a journalist to the chat in an encrypted text messaging app. "He will be asked several times by several senators about his misuse of Signal," Coons said, referring to the commercially available encrypted messaging app. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Vance and other Cabinet officials weighed in on strikes while in the unsecure chain. Waltz took 'full responsibility' for the blunder, after it came to light. Trump initially declined to fire him or anyone else over the incident. He fired scores of staff members later in a National Security Council shakeup. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, an ally of Waltz' who served with him in the House, acknowledged that Democrats were likely to zero in on the Signal scandal. "Yet what are they bringing up? An entirely successful military operation, that was precise, that no Americans or American infrastructure or interests were harmed in any kind of way? In the end, that's what he has to answer for," Mast said in an interview. Trump said on May 1 that he would nominate Waltz as his United Nations ambassador, hours after news outlets reported on his ouster. Yet, he did not officially do so for more than a month, raising questions about whether Waltz still had Trump's backing for the job. The president yanked his first pick, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, in late March amid concerns about the GOP's narrow House majority. Trump eventually signed the necessary paperwork for Waltz in mid-June after USA TODAY asked the White House why Trump had not formally put him forward. Career diplomat Dorothy Shea has represented the United States at the United Nations for the past six months. More: Trump shakes up national security team: Waltz tapped for UN post United Nations ambassadors have often served in presidential Cabinets. Trump's first United Nations ambassador, Nikki Haley, had an official seat at the table. But the Republican president downgraded the position after the former South Carolina governor left the job. A White House official who was not authorized to go on the record confirmed to USA TODAY that the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. role would not be part of the Cabinet. That means that Waltz will report to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who's been acting as Trump's national security adviser since the switch occurred on May 1. Mast said the role is still a "tremendous stepping stool" for Waltz, a former Green Beret and Florida congressman who served on the House Foreign Affairs, Armed Services and Intelligence committees. "It's also a Senate-confirmed position, which puts him under a different level of scrutiny," Mast said. "It's a very different role than what he was doing previously." Waltz will need a simple majority of senators to vote in his favor in the chamber where the GOP holds the majority in order to be confirmed. Sen. Bill Haggerty, a Tennessee Republican who served as U.S. ambassador to Japan, said he expected Waltz to have a successful hearing. He'll have "a big challenge dealing with the United Nations," Haggerty said. He told USA TODAY: "Mike's a competent professional." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Michael Waltz to face 'Signalgate' grilling in hearing for top UN post
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ex-Trump national security adviser Michael Waltz defends Signal use in hearing for UN post
WASHINGTON — Former Trump national security adviser Michael Waltz told senators during his confirmation hearing for U.N. ambassador that "no classified" information was discussed in a controversial Signal chat he started for top U.S. officials. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared the details of a strike on Houthi militants in Yemen before the operation had happened in a conversation on the commercially available encrypted app. Unbeknownst to him, Waltz accidentally added a journalist to the chain. The scandal prompted multiple internal investigations. Waltz said in testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on July 15 that Biden-era guidance from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA, advised senior officials to use the platform for personal and professional communication. "The use of Signal was not only still authorized and highly recommended," Waltz said. In the hearing, Waltz said a White House investigation ended with no disciplinary action. The former Trump adviser said his understanding was that a Defense Department investigation had not yet concluded. "There was no classified information exchanged," Waltz said in response to questions from Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware. Waltz appeared before the panel in his capacity as President Donald Trump's nominee for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. The confirmation hearing gave critics of the administration an opening to ask him about the text chain, in which Trump administration officials say classified information was not shared. Confirmation hearing: Former Trump adviser Mike Waltz faces 'Signalgate' grilling in Senate hearing for UN post Waltz is a former Green Beret and Florida representative, who resigned from Congress to join the Trump administration. He served as national security adviser for roughly three months. Trump reshuffled his team and named Secretary of State Marco Rubio acting national security adviser on May 1. The former Trump aide was expected to face tough questioning about his use of Signal throughout his time as national security adviser. Senior administration officials' use of the commercially available encrypted messaging app came to light after Waltz inadvertently invited the editor of The Atlantic to a sensitive group chat. Waltz took 'full responsibility' for the episode. Trump later fired scores of staff members and restructured the National Security Council. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ex-Trump adviser Michael Waltz defends Signal use in Senate hearing
CNN
03-06-2025
- General
- CNN
Laura Loomer meets with Vice President JD Vance at White House complex, sources say
Laura Loomer, the far-right activist who once posted a video claiming 9/11 was an 'inside job,' was back at the White House complex Tuesday morning, where she met privately with Vice President JD Vance, three sources familiar with the meeting tell CNN. The sources would not share the substance of the one-on-one closed-door meeting, which occurred in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, or what was discussed. Loomer did not meet with President Donald Trump and has since departed the White House complex, one of the sources said. After Loomer's last known visit to the White House in April, the White House fired several National Security Council staffers whom she labeled as disloyal. The administration also fired the director and deputy director of the National Security Agency. Loomer, who has a loyal online following, has been an influential figure in the Trump administration. She has a direct line to the president and has been known to influence personnel decisions, though she has not been able to secure a White House press credential. 'I do think there's a fear that I may ask questions about the loyalties of people in the White House,' she told CNN recently, 'and they fear me having a national and global microphone to ask those questions.' Loomer had publicly criticized then-national security adviser Michael Waltz before he was ousted from his position, accusing the former Florida congressman of making poor personnel choices. She weighed in more recently on the administration's move to withdraw Jared Isaacman as its nominee to be the next NASA administrator, touting Isaacman's professional accomplishments and questioning why the White House would not move forward on him. During the 2024 campaign, Trump's travels with Loomer on September 11 were illustrative of her influence with the then-candidate. But her proximity to Trump sparked some friction in part because she had previously posted a video claiming that the attack on the World Trade Center towers was an 'inside job.' Loomer told CNN at the time, 'I've never denied the fact that Islamic terrorists carried out the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In fact, the media calls me anti Muslim precisely for the reason that I spend so much time focusing on talking about the threats of Islamic terrorism in America.'
CNN
03-06-2025
- General
- CNN
Laura Loomer meets with Vice President JD Vance at White House complex, sources say
Laura Loomer, the far-right activist who once posted a video claiming 9/11 was an 'inside job,' was back at the White House complex Tuesday morning, where she met privately with Vice President JD Vance, three sources familiar with the meeting tell CNN. The sources would not share the substance of the one-on-one closed-door meeting, which occurred in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, or what was discussed. Loomer did not meet with President Donald Trump and has since departed the White House complex, one of the sources said. After Loomer's last known visit to the White House in April, the White House fired several National Security Council staffers whom she labeled as disloyal. The administration also fired the director and deputy director of the National Security Agency. Loomer, who has a loyal online following, has been an influential figure in the Trump administration. She has a direct line to the president and has been known to influence personnel decisions, though she has not been able to secure a White House press credential. 'I do think there's a fear that I may ask questions about the loyalties of people in the White House,' she told CNN recently, 'and they fear me having a national and global microphone to ask those questions.' Loomer had publicly criticized then-national security adviser Michael Waltz before he was ousted from his position, accusing the former Florida congressman of making poor personnel choices. She weighed in more recently on the administration's move to withdraw Jared Isaacman as its nominee to be the next NASA administrator, touting Isaacman's professional accomplishments and questioning why the White House would not move forward on him. During the 2024 campaign, Trump's travels with Loomer on September 11 were illustrative of her influence with the then-candidate. But her proximity to Trump sparked some friction in part because she had previously posted a video claiming that the attack on the World Trade Center towers was an 'inside job.' Loomer told CNN at the time, 'I've never denied the fact that Islamic terrorists carried out the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In fact, the media calls me anti Muslim precisely for the reason that I spend so much time focusing on talking about the threats of Islamic terrorism in America.'
