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JD Vance Finds a New Word to Describe Firing Mike Waltz

The vice president addressed Trump’s move in an interview with Fox News.

Vice President JD Vance considers Mike Waltz‘s new tenure as ambassador to the United Nations a “promotion.”

Speaking to Fox News’ Bret Baier Thursday, Vance addressed Waltz’s pivot from national security adviser to ambassador, and stressed that the role swap was not a demotion or “firing” in any way.

“He wasn’t let go, he’s being made ambassador to the United Nations—which of course is a Senate-confirmed position—I think you could make a good argument that it’s a promotion,” Vance declared.

President Donald Trump announced earlier on Thursday that Secretary of State Marco Rubio would temporarily be stepping in as an interim adviser, while Waltz would move on to the new role. Vance later joked on X that Rubio could also consider adding becoming the pope to his resume as well.

Though Waltz’s departure comes on the heels of his shocking involvement in a Signal leak in March, Vance insisted that the scandal had nothing to do with his “promotion” and that he had simply completed everything he was set out to do at the National Security Council.

“We brought Mike on to do some serious reforms at the National Security Council. He has done that,” Vance said. “He has got the trust of both me and the president, but we also thought that he would make a better U.N. Ambassador.”

“It’s time for Mike to do something else because he has done the job that I think he was asked to do,” Vance continued. “If the president wanted to fire him over the Signal thing, which by the way was a total nothingburger of a story, he would have just done it.”

“He actually decided it’s better for Mike to be in this new role. He has given Mike the new role. That’s it,” he concluded.

The Atlantic revealed in March that its editor in chief was accidentally added to a Trump-team Signal group chat by Waltz. The group was made by Waltz to discuss U.S. military strikes in Yemen.

The scandal forced a magnifying glass into Waltz’s use of the app, and reportedly spurred internal tension within the White House over his capabilities as security adviser.