Waltz seen using Signal during Cabinet meeting day before ouster as NSA

A Reuters photo reveals a glimpse of Mike Waltz's chats and calls with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff

US President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser Mike Waltz was photographed using Signal messaging app during a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, according to the media reports. This comes only a day before Trump announced he was replacing Waltz with Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

 

In a Reuters photograph, Waltz can be seen checking chats on what appears to be a modified version of the encrypted messaging app. The photo shows records of chats and calls with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.

 

Another Bloomberg report mentions the partial message from Rubio reads, “...there is time,” while one from Vice President Vance says, “I have confirmation from my counterpart it’s turned off. He is going to be here...”

 

 

A CNBC report indicates timestamps on the message threads show the top officials were active as recently as Tuesday or the morning of the meeting attended by Trump and his cabinet on Wednesday.

 

In response to the photo, White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly on Thursday said, “As we have said many times, Signal is an approved app for government use and is loaded on government phones". 

 

Signal chat on Yemen strikes sparked controversy

 

Earlier this year, use of Signal to discuss highly sensitive military operations by Trump's top administration officials sparked one of the biggest controversies so far in Trump’s second term.

 

In mid-March, Waltz was a part of group chat with Vice President JD Vance, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, and others to discuss upcoming airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen. The discussions inadvertently included The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg.

 

In response, Trump defended Waltz publicly, and his administration argued that the information shared in the chat was not classified. According to the reports, the Pentagon’s watchdog has launched an investigation into Hegseth for using the Signal messaging app to discuss Yemen airstrikes. 

 

Waltz is UN ambassador, Rubio acting NSA

 

President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he is nominating his national security adviser, Mike Waltz, as the next United Nations ambassador. Trump also said that Secretary of State Marco Rubio will serve as acting national security adviser while continuing in his role at the State Department.

 

The announcement came shortly after news broke that Waltz was leaving the administration, following reports that he had accidentally added a journalist to a Signal chat used to discuss military plans.