Former President Donald’s national security adviser Trump Mike Waltz was photographed using a signal during a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, only one day before the President announced that he replaced Waltz with State Secretary Marco Rubio.
US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz checked his cellphone while attending a cabinet meeting held by President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, 30 April 2025.
Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
In the photo, taken by a Reuters photographer, the names of Waltz have sent an SMS including Vice President JD Vance, Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and Steve Witkoff, Middle Eastern Delegation Trump.
White House Communication Director Steven Cheung defended the use of the Waltz application on Thursday afternoon, saying, “Signal is an approved application that is loaded to our government telephone. Thank you for your attention to this problem.”
Waltz was criticized in March after he accidentally invited a journalist, Jeffrey Goldberg from Atlantic, to a signal group chat with other national security officials, such as Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, where they discussed US attacks on terrorists in Yemen.
Waltz claimed he did not know how Goldberg chatted and claimed no sensitive information was shared. Trump defended Waltz and dismissed the call to fire him.
On Thursday, Trump announced that he would nominate Waltz to become a US ambassador to the United Nations, while State Secretary Marco Rubio would function as a national security advisor while maintaining his current role.
US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz checked his cellphone while attending a cabinet meeting held by President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, 30 April 2025.
Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
Although Trump supports Waltz in public, Sumber told ABC News that the President was more frustrated after he was under strict supervision of the signal controversy.
Apart from the administrative position that the signal is an approved application, the Pentagon internal supervisor criticized the use of the signal application for the former official in 2021, calling it a violation of the “retention policy of the department” of the department and an unauthorized way to communicate sensitive information.
Last month, Inspector General Acting Dod Steven Stebbins announced that he began an investigation of the use of hegseth signals during Yemen’s attack. On Thursday an US official confirmed to ABC News that IG was looking for a second signal chat where Hegseth shared time for attacks with his wife, brothers and lawyers.
The Wall Street Journal Forst reports an expanded investigation.
“The purpose of this evaluation is to determine the extent to which the Secretary of Defense and other DOD personnel comply with DOD policies and procedures for the use of commercial message applications for official businesses. In addition, we will review compliance with classification and record retention requirements,” he said in a statement.
Republican leaders have blocked Democratic efforts to investigate signal chat about Yemen’s attacks at the congress.