‘Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio will act as National Security Counselor, maintaining his strong leadership in the State Department,’ said the US President
The president of the United States, he announced on Thursday (1) that he will appoint the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, as an interim national security counselor to replace, who was nominated to be a US ambassador to the UN. Trump announced the measures shortly after the news that Waltz and his deputy Alex Wong would leave the government.
“I am pleased to announce that I will appoint Mike Waltz as the next United States Ambassador in the United Nations. Since his uniform time on the battlefield, Congress and as my national security counselor, Mike Waltz has been dedicated to putting the interests of our nation first,” Trump wrote on social networks.
“Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio will act as National Security Counselor, maintaining his strong leadership in the State Department. Together we will continue to fight tirelessly to make America, and the world, safe again.” There is a precedent for the Secretary of State to serve simultaneously as a national security counselor. Henry Kissinger held both positions from 1973 to 1975.
Signalgate
A former Florida Republican Deputy Waltz gained international attention in March after misleading The Atlantic magazine editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, in a group on the signal platform that gathered several authorities from the country and where Washington military attacks were discussed against the Houthis in Yemen.
After the ‘Signalgate’ paper, the counselor is now accused of leaving the account in the open Venmo application. The app has online payment function, similar to Paywall, but with social networking functions that allow users to like and share posts. It is only available in the United States.
Decision
Allies of the most extremist nucleus of Trump, such as Laura Loomer, have criticized Waltz since before Signalgate. According to Loomer, Waltz is part of a republican wing that is not in tune with the president’s agenda. Trump tried to avoid Waltz’s resignation and supported his counselor after Signalgate, but the president’s hard core pressure made a difference.
In his first term, Trump had four national security advisers, four White House Cabinet chiefs and two secretaries of state. Waltz’s change of national security counselor to nominate the UN ambassador means that he will now have to face the Senate confirmation process, which he was able to avoid in January.
The process, which has been difficult for many of Trump’s choices for the cabinet, will give congressmen, especially the Democrats, the first chance of questioning Waltz about their decision to share information about an impending American air strike on Signal.
*With information from Estadão Content
Posted by Carolina Ferreira
