WASHINGTON, May 2 (Xinhua) -- After a major scandal that may have compromised U.S. national security, U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday announced he would let go his national security advisor Mike Waltz.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump nominated Waltz as the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, adding that Secretary of State Marco Rubio will serve as national security advisor in the interim.

The announcement came just a few hours after multiple U.S. media outlets reported that Waltz will soon leave his post.

It also came more than a month after a U.S. journalist was accidentally added to an online chat group in which top officials discussed a military strike on Houthi targets in Yemen. The chat group used Signal, an app that is available to the general public, rather than an official government chat app.

CRITICISMS

Despite consistently downplaying the impact of the incident and insisting that the group chat messages were not classified, both Trump and Waltz have admitted to mistakes on multiple occasions.

Waltz voluntarily took the blame for the major breach, saying in an interview with Fox News on March 25 that he took full responsibility for the incident.

In an interview with The Atlantic published on Monday, Trump acknowledged it was a very big story, and said: "I think we learned: Maybe don't use Signal, okay?"

Trump reportedly hesitated to fire Waltz because he did not want to give the media a "scalp" or acknowledge that he cared, but his resolve has apparently weakened, according to The Atlantic, which first reported the group chat incident.

The scandal has renewed earlier criticisms that Trump has named inexperienced, incompetent individuals to top cabinet positions.

"The Waltz departure is just the latest example of a set of advisors that are not on top of their game. Trump understands this problem and in some cases has moved quickly to get someone who is better," Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Darrell West told Xinhua.

"Trump picked inexperienced people for his team and has suffered the consequences of having done that. Some of his folks have made basic mistakes that generated lots of negative attention," West said.

Christopher Galdieri, a political science professor at Saint Anselm College, told Xinhua: "I think this is an attempt to make Signal Gate go away without having to be accountable or answerable for it."

"I suspect the White House is hoping this will be the end of it. But... these sorts of things will keep happening as long as you have folks in these positions without the experience or self-awareness to do them well," Galdieri said.

U.S. President Donald Trump waves to the press as he walks toward the South Lawn to board Marine One at the White House in Washington, D.C., the United States, on May 1, 2025. (Xinhua/Hu Yousong)

IMPACT

Following the exposure of the leak incident, Democrats repeatedly called for the resignation of high-ranking officials involved, including Waltz and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Some analysts believe Waltz's dismissal is a gift to Democrats, who are on the defensive after getting pummeled in the presidential elections.

"The firing should show Democrats that the administration is not invulnerable ... The key lesson is that Democrats have no reason to let up on any of the figures who were on the Signal chat," Clay Ramsay, a researcher at the Center for International and Security Studies at the University of Maryland, told Xinhua.

William Courtney, a retired U.S. ambassador and adjunct senior fellow at the RAND Corporation, meanwhile, noted that personnel changes are not abnormal in high-pressure jobs at the center of policy debates in Washington.

Former President Ronald Reagan, for example, had six national security advisors over two terms, Courtney told Xinhua. "Over the next few years, several senior foreign policy figures might be changed."

During Trump's first term, he appointed a total of four national security advisors.

Trump's latest announcement is further evidence that his administration faces a shortage of qualified personnel, leaving it "stretched thin."

Another key figure in the incident, Hegseth, who shared information about striking the Houthi rebels in Yemen in the group chat, is also facing significant public pressure.

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a California Democrat, shared media report about Waltz being dismissed and added the comment, "Now do Hegseth."