A photographer captured Mike Waltz checking Signal during a cabinet meeting with Donald Trump at the White House one day before he was ousted as national security adviser.
A Reuters photographer captured Waltz checking his Signal account during the meeting. Chats with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Vice-President JD Vance could be seen on his phone.
Waltz is at the center of one of the biggest scandals during the Trump administration regarding the Signal app.
In March, Waltz put together a Signal chat and mistakenly included The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg. In the chat, top national security officials discuss plans for a military strike on Houthi targets in Yemen.
Trump and the White House defended Waltz at the time.
But on Thursday, Trump announced that Rubio would be replacing Waltz as NSA while Waltz will serve as US ambassador to the United Nations.
“Mike Waltz has worked hard to put our Nation’s Interests first. I know he will do the same in his new role. In the interim, Secretary of State Marco Rubio will serve as National Security Advisor, while continuing his strong leadership at the State Department. Together, we will continue to fight tirelessly to Make America, and the World, SAFE AGAIN,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
