UN Ambassador Mike Waltz’s office is furious over a weekend Politico Magazine report that he’s been quietly angling for Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s job— and had the late Sen. Lindsey Graham’s ear before Graham died in July.
According to the report, Waltz sought the late South Carolina Republican’s backing to replace Rubio, who many believe has “presidential ambitions of his own,” if the job opens up. Two people say Graham told them separately, including one GOP elected official; one source said Graham mentioned it weeks before his July 11 death, adding Graham had spoken with Waltz “very recently.”
Waltz’s office didn’t hold back: “This conversation never happened. It’s completely fake,” it said, also blasting Politico for publishing a claim Graham “can no longer refute” while dodging questions about Waltz’s other political ambitions. An aide to the late senator didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Waltz was banished to the UN after the infamous Signal chat scandal, in which he mistakenly looped a journalist into a group thread on U.S. strikes on Yemen — even though Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared the chat’s most sensitive details. Rather than fade into diplomatic obscurity, Waltz has raised his profile by “hosting hip-hop stars,” warning Cuba’s government to “change your ways,” and hitting the Sunday shows to defend the U.S.-Israel war on Iran. Insiders whisper he could eye a Florida Senate seat or even the presidency.
Fred Fleitz, a former Trump national security official, isn’t surprised by the ambition.
“He’s very ambitious,” Fleitz said. “He’s definitely going to want more, and I think he’ll be considered. He’s an excellent candidate to be secretary of State.” One former Trump official summed up his temperament as pure “golden retriever energy.”
It’s the latest twist in Waltz’s long, strange fall from Trump’s inner circle — a saga that’s already made him and Rubio a Washington punchline.
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