The United States Senate confirmed Mike Waltz as the next ambassador to the United Nations on Friday, September 19, 2025, ending an eight-month vacancy at one of the nation’s most critical diplomatic posts. The vote—narrow at 47-43—reflected a sharply divided chamber, marking a significant moment in U.S. foreign policy as President Donald Trump’s administration moves to assert a tougher, more assertive stance at the U.N. just days before the annual General Assembly in New York.
Waltz, 51, a former national security adviser to Trump and a former Florida congressman, steps into the role at a time when the U.N. is facing heightened scrutiny from Washington. According to Xinhua, Waltz is expected to attend the General Assembly next week, where President Trump himself is scheduled to address world leaders on Tuesday, September 23. However, as reported by several outlets, it remains unclear whether Waltz will be fully credentialed in time to participate in the Assembly’s opening sessions.
The path to Waltz’s confirmation was anything but smooth. For eight months, the United States had no Senate-confirmed ambassador at the U.N., with Dorothy Shea serving in an interim capacity since January 20, 2025, after Linda Thomas-Greenfield left her post when Trump took office. During this period, many in Washington—especially conservatives aligned with Trump—lamented what they saw as a lack of forceful U.S. representation at the world body.
Jason Miller, a former senior advisor to Trump’s 2024 campaign, captured this sentiment in a recent interview with Breitbart News. “We haven’t had a real ambassador to the U.N.—literally going on years now,” Miller said, arguing that “the fact that the Chinese have taken over the building, the fact that you have so much of this behind the scenes—the liberalism, the globalist takeover, all these anti-American plays that are continually going on at the U.N.” Miller insisted that Waltz’s confirmation would mark a turning point: “Now we have Mike Waltz, who’s been a proven ally for President Trump, who’s going to get in there and he’s going to start taking it directly to these guys, and have some real enforcement going on—make sure that especially with all the money and everything that Americans send to fund the U.N., that we’re not going to allow this stuff to happen anymore.”
The Senate vote itself was a study in partisanship, with only three Democrats—John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Mark Kelly of Arizona, and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire—joining Republicans to support Waltz. According to SocialNews.XYZ and Politico, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky was the lone Republican to oppose the nomination. The rest of the chamber’s Democrats voted against Waltz, citing concerns over his recent tenure as national security adviser and questions about his approach to multilateral diplomacy.
Waltz’s brief but eventful stint as national security adviser earlier this year drew considerable attention—and controversy. Shortly after being named to the role in January 2025, Waltz made headlines when he inadvertently added The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, to a private Signal group chat with senior administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The group was discussing potential military strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, and screenshots published by The Atlantic revealed details about attack timing and military assets. While the administration quickly downplayed the incident—insisting no classified information was shared—the episode raised questions about operational security and Waltz’s judgment. According to SocialNews.XYZ, Waltz was already on “thin ice” with President Trump following the mishap, but ultimately remained in the administration and was tapped for the U.N. post after Trump withdrew the nomination of Republican Elise Stefanik in March.
During his Senate confirmation hearing earlier this summer, as reported by NBC News and Xinhua, Waltz emphasized the need for sweeping reforms at the U.N. He called for a comprehensive review of U.S. funding—long a contentious issue among conservatives—and pledged to root out anti-Semitism within the institution. “There are so many different things that they’re trying to work behind the scenes, and now we have our own sheriff—our own patrolman who can go through and catch those things,” Miller said in his Breitbart interview, echoing Waltz’s own rhetoric about vigilance and enforcement.
“What people don’t realize is everything that’s going on behind the scenes. You have other countries that are moving and scheming and trying to move resolutions, and trying to shift pots of money around, and find different ways that they can effectively collude against Americans or against free speech, or in favor of anti-Israel forces,” Miller continued. “When the bad guys are trying to mobilize against the United States, we have a very powerful mouthpiece—someone who’s directly connected with the president, who can bring public attention to things that other countries or their representatives are trying to do.”
Waltz’s supporters argue that his military background, previous experience as a congressman, and close ties to President Trump make him uniquely suited to the job. They see his appointment as a necessary corrective to what they perceive as years of drift and weakness at the U.N. “Having someone there who’s the watchdog, the sheriff who’s on top of these things at all times is critically important,” Miller asserted, adding that the U.N. “has been working against U.S. interests” for years.
But Waltz’s detractors, including many Senate Democrats, worry that his confrontational style and the circumstances of his nomination could further strain U.S. relations with key allies and undermine the spirit of multilateral cooperation. They point to his role in the Yemen Signal chat incident as a sign of recklessness and a lack of diplomatic finesse. Others question whether Waltz will be able to bridge the gap between Trump’s America-first agenda and the U.N.’s consensus-driven culture.
The confirmation also comes at a moment of heightened tension within the U.N. itself. As Waltz prepares to take his seat in New York, the General Assembly faces a packed agenda: ongoing wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, disputes over climate change, and debates about the future of global governance. With President Trump scheduled to make a high-profile speech, all eyes will be on the new ambassador to see how he navigates these challenges—and whether his promise of reform translates into tangible results.
For now, the appointment of Mike Waltz as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations signals a new, more combative chapter for American diplomacy on the world stage. With a reputation for toughness and a mandate for change, Waltz steps into the fray as both a symbol and an agent of Trump’s vision for U.S. foreign policy—one that promises, for better or worse, to shake up the status quo at Turtle Bay.
