Donald Trump’s national security adviser Mike Waltz is leaving his role. Waltz will move to be US ambassador to the UN, Trump later revealed – and he also announced new sanctions targeting Iran. Listen to the Trump 100 podcast as you scroll.
Thursday 1 May 2025 23:24, UK
Thanks for following our live coverage of the latest developments on Donald Trump’s administration.
We’ll be back soon with more updates.
Here’s a recap of today’s key moments:
In other developments…
Thanks for following our live coverage of the White House and any development emerging from across the pond as Donald Trump is in charge.
We’ll be back soon with more updates.
Here’s a recap of today’s key developments:
In other developments…
Mike Waltz may have gone instead of Pete Hegseth because the role of a national security adviser isn’t one which is senate-confirmed, former director of global engagement at the White House, Brett Bruen, said.
Speaking on The World with Yalda Hakim, Bruen responded to speculation about why Waltz has left his post as national security adviser while Hegseth, who was also involved in Signalgate, was praised by Trump today for doing a “fantastic” job.
As we reported a little while ago, Waltz left his position as national security adviser today, with secretary of state Marco Rubio set to replace him on an interim basis.
It comes after Waltz said he took “full responsibility” for Signalgate, which saw him inadvertently adding a journalist to a highly sensitive chat with other senior US officials on the encrypted messaging service Signal.
The chat also included defence secretary Hegseth – who shared timings of US airstrikes, which could have put American military personnel at risk if leaked.
Separately, Hegseth shared messages on Signal with his wife and brother about military strikes.
Asked by Hakim why Waltz left as opposed to Hegseth, Bruen noted how the national security adviser role was “not a senate-confirmed position so it makes it easier for President Trump to swap in and out…”
He added: “Mike Flynn lasted 24 days and then there was a whole series of other national security advisers who were coming through that revolving door at the Trump White House.
“This is a position that can immediately be filled, Trump has done so with Marco Rubio.”
In regards to Rubio being appointed as interim national security adviser, Bruen said that, like Waltz, he is “someone who comes from that more establishment, internationalist wing of the Republican party, as small as that is these days, so I don’t know that we can yet make the assessment that the MAGA movement is on the ascendancy in the national security world…”
Back to Iran now, after Donald Trump’s unexpected announcement of tough sanctions on Iranian oil today.
The US was never confirmed to be participating in a fourth round of talks with Iran, Tammy Bruce, spokesperson for the US Department of State, said earlier.
The talks, which had been due to take place in Rome on Saturday, were postponed earlier today, a senior Iranian official told Reuters.
The official said a new date will be set “depending on the US approach”.
“US sanctions on Iran during the nuclear talks are not helping the sides to resolve the nuclear dispute through diplomacy,” the official said.
Bruce said the situation was “fluid” and added: “We expect another round of talks will take place in the near future.”
Revenue is down at Donald Trump’s beloved McDonald’s due to the economic climate created by his tariffs.
The value of its stock fell by 1.9% as a result of the slump in sales.
Profits were slightly above forecasts in the first quarter of the year, McDonald’s said, but its revenues were weaker than expected.
McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski said consumers “are grappling with uncertainty”.
The fear on Wall Street is for a possible worst-case scenario called “stagflation”, where the economy stagnates yet inflation remains high.
Of course, the president’s love of McDonald’s is well-known.
Here, in 2019, he put on a feast of burgers and more for successful American football players at the White House, during his first term.
And last year, during the election campaign, Trump even worked at a McDonald’s as a vote-winning stunt.
Earlier, we brought you a reminder of Sky News’ clash with Trump backer Marjorie Taylor Greene in March (see 19.00 post).
Well, Taylor Greene will be back in the news next week, it seems.
She will be sponsoring a bill in the House of Representatives on one of the president’s pet projects – officially renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
If passed into law, the bill would require federal agencies to update any “map, regulation, document, paper, or other record of the United States” with the “Gulf of America” name no later than 180 days after enactment.
As you can see, Trump is a huge admirer of the idea.
This week he’s been pushing MAGA hats with the name…
…and early on in his presidency, he was regularly posing with maps…
Former national security adviser Mike Waltz appears to be using the encrypted messaging service Signal during a cabinet meeting yesterday.
It comes after he was at the centre of a scandal which saw him and other senior US officials sharing highly sensitive information in a chat where a journalist had inadvertently been included, back in March.
It was reported today that Waltz was removed from his role and appointed as US ambassador to the UN, though no details as to why he left his post have been released.
At the time so-called Signalgate emerged, Waltz claimed “full responsibility” for adding the Atlantic editor-in-chief to the chat – which included details of US military strikes.
Waltz pictured on phone at cabinet meeting
A wide shot shows Waltz at the cabinet table during yesterday’s meeting, on his phone.
We know the photo is from yesterday because Donald Trump’s Gulf of America hats are all out on the table.
Elon Musk wore two hats, including one of the new ones.
A slightly zoomed in shot shows Waltz’s name on the cabinet table, and you can see he’s using a messaging app during the meeting.
The closest view appears to show Waltz’s chats on Signal with other key members of Trump’s top team – including vice president JD Vance, secretary of state Marco Rubio, Ukraine-Russia negotiator Steve Witkoff and Tulsi Gabbard, the US’s director of national intelligence.
With Donald Trump surprising us again this evening, it’s a good time to revisit analysis from Yalda Hakim, our lead world news presenter, who has been looking at the US president’s first 100 days.
So, after 100 days of Donald Trump, the big question for me remains – does the US president have a coherent foreign policy, or is he just winging it?
Let’s take his attitude to the war in Ukraine – here “inconsistent” is perhaps the best description.
Back in February, he and vice president JD Vance humiliated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy by shouting at him in the Oval Office.
A few days later, I spoke to Zelenskyy in person when he confided to me that maybe he would have to step down if NATO could guarantee Ukraine membership – a man who perhaps sensed he could never win against a hostile Trump.
Yet, fast-forward to last weekend in Rome, and an iconic picture of the two men in close conversation at the Pope’s funeral.
This time round, it is Russian President Vladimir Putin on the receiving end of the presidential anger, blaming him for the fact that “too many people are dying!”
To Trump’s supporters, this is the smart negotiator, constantly repositioning himself as new information comes in, prior to pulling off a spectacular deal.
To his many detractors, it indicates a dangerous incoherence that is replicated in other key areas, including tariffs as well as his relationship with his allies in Europe and his foes in Beijing.
Read Yalda’s full piece here. And tap here to enjoy The World podcast, which she co-presents, on your podcast app of choice.
As you’re here, you’ve probably not missed the news that Donald Trump’s national security adviser Mike Waltz is leaving his role, in the first big shakeup of the US president’s inner circle since he took office on 20 January.
Trump announced that Waltz would be taking up a role as the next United States ambassador to the United Nations.
In his stead, Marco Rubio – who is already US secretary of state – will advise Trump on national security.
But who is Waltz? And what is his background?
We take a look in this explainer…
Tammy Bruce, spokesperson for the US Department of State, said she had no prior knowledge of her boss Marco Rubio replacing Mike Waltz as national security adviser on an interim basis.
Bruce is giving a briefing to journalists at the moment.
She had only recently started the briefing when a statement by Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform announcing the move was read out to her earlier.
She replied, saying: “It is clear that I just heard this from you…”
‘This is a man who has worn several hats’
Bruce then went on to praise her boss as a man who “knows everyone” and has plenty of experience and connections.
“This is a man who, as I think you all know, has worn several hats from day one in managing the nature of what has happened here at the state department, at USAID [United States Agency for International Development].”
She added Rubio’s “close working relationship day to day with the president happens for a reason”, and said they had “gotten to know each other very well”.
Talking about how Rubio would manage two roles at the same time, Bruce said: “So when we think about how is secretary Rubio going to do this…
“Well, it’s like how does President Trump run the US? You have people around you, it’s not just you.”
She added: “It’s about managing people… assigning people to the right roles as the president has just done.”
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Waltz pictured using same app at centre of security breach scandal – Sky News
