{"id":78288,"date":"2025-07-15T16:00:24","date_gmt":"2025-07-15T16:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2025\/07\/15\/mike-waltz-pledges-to-make-un-great-again-in-confirmation-hearing\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T16:29:59","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T16:29:59","slug":"mike-waltz-pledges-to-make-un-great-again-in-confirmation-hearing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2025\/07\/15\/mike-waltz-pledges-to-make-un-great-again-in-confirmation-hearing\/","title":{"rendered":"Mike Waltz pledges to make UN \u2018great again\u2019 in confirmation hearing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Mike Waltz told lawmakers Tuesday at his confirmation hearing to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations that he plans to make the world body \u201cgreat again,\u201d echoing President Donald Trump\u2019s message for revamping America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe should have one place in the world where everyone can talk \u2014 where China, Russia, Europe and the developing world can come together and resolve conflicts,\u201d Waltz said. \u201cBut after 80 years, it\u2019s drifted from its core mission of peacemaking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Appearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, it is the first time Waltz is facing lawmakers since he was ousted as national security adviser for mistakenly adding a journalist to a private Signal chat<\/a> used to discuss sensitive military plans. More than an hour into the hearing, no lawmakers had mentioned the episode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.N. post is the last one to be filled in Trump\u2019s Cabinet following months of delay, including the withdrawal of the previous nominee. Waltz, a former Florida congressman, was introduced by Sens. Mike Lee of Utah and Rick Scott of Florida as \u201ca seasoned policy mind and skilled negotiator.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith Waltz at the helm, the U.N. will have what I regard as what should be its last chance to demonstrate its actual value to the United States,\u201d Lee said. \u201cInstead of progressive political virtue signaling, the Security Council has the chance to prove its value, and settling disputes and brokering deals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First opportunity to ask about the Signal chat<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The hearing is providing senators with the first opportunity to grill Waltz over revelations in March that he added The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg to a private text chain on an unclassified messaging app that was used to discuss planning for strikes on Houthi militants in Yemen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Waltz took responsibility even as criticism mounted against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who shared the sensitive plans in the chat that included several other high-level national security officials. Hegseth shared the same information in another Signal chat that included family, but Trump has made clear Hegseth has his support.<\/p>\n\n\n\t