Morning Report — Waltz out, Rubio in, Hegseth up in the air ...Middle East

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In today’s issue:  

The first Cabinet reshuffle of President Trump’s second term is here.

Trump on Thursday announced he is tapping national security adviser Mike Waltz, a hawkish former member of Congress, to be his ambassador to the United Nations following reports of his ouster from his post. Waltz had been targeted by MAGA loyalists inside and outside the administration over an alleged lack of commitment to the president’s agenda, and was at the center of a Signal chat scandal that marked a low point of Trump's first 100 days. 

In an interview last week with The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg — the journalist mistakenly added to the Signal chat — Trump said the scandal was “a very big story,” but the president said he hesitated to fire Waltz because he didn’t want to give the media a “scalp.”

On Thursday, Trump ousted Waltz and then announced he is naming his Secretary of State Marco Rubio to act as national security adviser on an interim basis. Waltz’s deputy, Alex Wong, was also dismissed from his post. 

Vice President Vance on Thursday told Fox News that Waltz has his and Trump’s trust. Vance said Waltz’s ousting was not a result of a Signal chat, which he called a "nothingburger,” and argued Trump believes Waltz would do a "better job in a different role."

"I think you could make a good argument that it’s a promotion," Vance said. "We brought Mike on to do some serious reforms at the National Security Council. He has done that." 

▪ The Hill: A reporter was the one to inform a State Department spokesperson during a briefing Thursday that Trump had tapped Rubio to be acting national security adviser.

▪ Axios: Why Trump's White House turned on Waltz.

▪ The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Did Waltz have the shortest term as national security adviser? Not even close.

▪ The New York Times: Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), Trump’s first pick for U.N. ambassador, is contemplating a run for governor and nursing a feud with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) after her Cabinet nomination was withdrawn.

Waltz’s removal adds to the tumult in Trump’s national security teams, writes The Hill’s Laura Kelly. It comes a month after multiple top National Security Council officials were fired along with the head of the National Security Agency. Meanwhile, the Pentagon has been roiled by an investigation and firings among Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s top staff.

Those in traditional GOP foreign policy circles who see Waltz as a trusted figure may find solace in Rubio stepping into the role. Both are cut from the same cloth, supportive of working with U.S. allies and confronting adversaries.  

“We’ll never know what outrageous proposals made their way to Waltz’s desk en route to the Oval Office and were quietly blocked thanks to him,” said one foreign policy expert at a conservative think tank. “While Rubio’s interim appointment as national security adviser is comforting, who President Trump picks to replace Waltz full time will say a lot about the future direction of this White House’s foreign policy.”

As Waltz takes the fall, Senate Republicans are holding back on calling for Hegseth to resign, but they are privately wondering how much time he has left atop the Pentagon amid ongoing turmoil within the Trump administration. Republican senators expressed disappointment over the initial news that Waltz would step down as national security adviser, writes The Hill’s Alexander Bolton. They viewed him as well qualified for the job and a steady hand to work with Hegseth, who has less national security policy experience.

“He did a very good job as national security adviser. It’s the prerogative of the president to decide who his team will be, but I was sorry to see that news,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said of Waltz.

GOP lawmakers view Hegseth less favorably, and one Republican senator said he could be next on the chopping block.

“Hegseth is next in line not because he’s a jerk, but because I think they’re concerned about his management and that his team is a mess,” the source said. Hegseth has been embroiled in Signal chat scandals of his own, including sharing details of strikes against the Yemen-based Houthis with his wife and personal lawyer.

“If he continues to be a big distraction, I bet they will” get rid of Hegseth, the senator speculated, adding the president’s “tolerance level for distractions from anybody else” is a lot lower than it was in his first administration.

▪ The Hill: The House GOP’s scramble to link arms on spending cuts that can pass through the key Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over Medicaid, means markup is postponed until May 12. It’s confirmation that putting Trump’s ambitious budget reconciliation goals into legislation with only Republican backing is not going to be speedy or easy.    

SMART TAKE with NewsNation’s BLAKE BURMAN:  

Today marks one month since President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcements. Many of those tariffs have since been reduced, but the levies against Chinese goods have ratcheted up. 

One result: Fewer cargo ships from China are beginning to arrive at U.S. ports. Ryan Calkins, commissioner of the Port of Seattle, says things look pretty good at the port right now, but wheels are in motion for Americans to feel some effects down the road.  

“Factories have stopped producing in China. U.S. customers have asked to hold those orders until they have some clarity on tariffs. And there's not as much outbound either, because the same is happening in reverse,” Calkins said.   

While the White House (and Republicans) now have to deal with the possibility of rising prices due to tariffs, what's happening at the ports suggests we should start monitoring the lag effect in the coming weeks.  

Burman hosts “The Hill” weeknights, 6p/5c on NewsNation.

3 THINGS TO KNOW TODAY:

▪ World Liberty, a firm largely owned by a Trump family corporate entity, invites the president to leverage his executive powers and erase centuries-old presidential norms. He’s now a major crypto dealer and the industry’s top policymaker. 

▪ Almost half of this year’s layoffs to date were driven by the federal Department of Government Efficiency’s job cuts, according to a new report. 

▪ The Alien Enemies Act, used by the Justice Department, cannot be invoked to summarily deport Venezuelan migrants, a Trump-appointed U.S. district court judge ruled Thursday. 

LEADING THE DAY 

© Associated Press | Ted Shaffrey

Vance flew to a South Carolina steel plant on Thursday to explain in simple terms what Trump’s trade agenda means: move fast and make things.

“The lesson is that you got to make your own stuff,” Vance said during remarks while accompanied by Lee Zeldin, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency. The administration is promoting a revival of U.S. manufacturing, including energy production, while at the same time negotiating trade deals with individual countries abroad. No detailed agreements have been unveiled. 

“I’m sure you’ve heard some criticism of the president’s trade policy from people who ought to know better,” Vance added at the Nucor Steel Berkeley facility in Huger, S.C.  

The vice president said tariffs are part of the president’s effort to build up middle-class jobs. “Do you want to ship American jobs off to the People’s Republic of China?” Vance asked. “Do you want to rely on foreign corporations to make the things that you need in your home and your families need every single day?”

The crowd shouted “no.”

Rep. Jim Clyburn, South Carolina’s lone House Democrat, warned in a Thursday statement that “Trump’s exorbitant tariffs — imposed on countless essential products without any strategy — are increasing costs, jeopardizing retirement savings, threatening jobs, and putting small businesses at risk.” 

The Hill: U.S. pain stings less than Chinese pain: Trump’s tariff message describes short-term discomfort for U.S. consumers but, in his telling, much greater commercial meltdowns in China. “They’re having tremendous difficulty because their factories are not doing business,” he said on Wednesday. 

In a Senate battle over tariffs this week, Democrats believed they were oh-so close to lining up a majority to pass a resolution with GOP help. The measure would have scrapped Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs, which were paused for most trading partners. Democrats in the Senate came up short on Wednesday and The Hill’s Al Weaver reports what they believe went wrong, even as they brought some Republicans over to their side on the resolution.  

▪ The Washington Post: In media news, Trump signed an executive order Thursday to prohibit federal funding for National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). The order, which may be challenged in court, called the broadcasters’ news coverage “biased and partisan.”  

▪ The Wall Street Journal: In budget news, the president is expected to try to slash $163 billion in nondefense discretionary spending from a fiscal 2026 blueprint, taking aim at federal programs invested in the environment, renewable energy, education and foreign aid. … Separately, House Republicans postponed three key budget-focused markups (in Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means and Agriculture committees) because of policy disagreements and procedural question marks. 

▪ The Hill: In education news, pro-Palestinian students detained by immigration authorities celebrated the court-ordered release of Mohsen Mahdawi, representing a judicial breakthrough for international students arrested by agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

WHERE AND WHEN

ZOOM IN

© Associated Press | Abir Sultan, EPA

GAZA: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that in Israel’s war against Hamas, defeating the country’s enemies is more important than securing the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza. Netanyahu’s remarks marked the first time that the prime minister has explicitly described returning the hostages as a secondary goal of the war.

“We have many objectives, many goals in this war. We want to bring back all of our hostages,” Netanyahu said. “That is a very important goal. In war, there is a supreme objective. And that supreme objective is victory over our enemies. And that is what we will achieve.”

Over the course of Israel’s 18-month war in the enclave, Netanyahu has been criticized for extending the conflict for political gains, at the expense of the remaining hostages. In recent weeks, thousands of Israeli reservists signed letters demanding that Netanyahu's government stop the fighting and concentrate instead on reaching a ceasefire and hostage release deal.

▪ The New York Times: Israel launched airstrikes on Syria amid a spreading wave of sectarian violence in areas dominated by the Druse minority. Dozens of people have been killed in two days of clashes.

▪ The Washington Post: After 100 days, the toll of Trump’s foreign aid cuts has begun to sink in.

UKRAINE: The U.S.-Ukraine minerals deal could bring untold money into a joint investment fund between the two countries that would help rebuild Ukraine whenever the war with Russia ends. But the text of the agreement, made public by Ukraine’s government, made no mention of the security guarantees that Kyiv had long sought.

▪ CNN: Intelligence suggests Russian President Vladimir Putin’s immediate goals for the Ukraine war may have shifted.

▪ BBC: Seven takeaways from the U.S.-Ukraine resources deal.

ELSEWHERE

© Associated Press | Susan Walsh

?️Presidents occasionally supply the sound bites for opponents’ political arguments while inadvertently affirming voters’ anxieties about their leadership. Here are some examples:

President Trump, defending his tariffs and commenting on projected supply problems: "Maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls. And maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more than they would normally." 

Former President Biden, asked in his first year about a surge of migrants at the southern border: “I’ve been there before and I haven’t — I mean, I know it well. I guess I should go down. But the whole point of it is I haven’t had a whole hell of a lot of time to get down.” (The Washington Post reported there was no evidence Biden as a senator or vice president toured the U.S. southern border.)

Former President George W. Bush, offering his on-the-ground response to the horrors of Hurricane Katrina, which ultimately killed 1,833 people and left thousands homeless: "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job," he said in 2005, praising his overwhelmed and inexperienced FEMA director at the time, Michael Brown. 

Former President Clinton, who campaigned to enact middle-class tax cuts and raise taxes on the rich, spoke to wealthy Houston donors in 1995 about his 1993 budget: "Probably there are people in this room still mad at me at that budget because you think I raised your taxes too much. It might surprise you to know that I think I raised them too much, too." 

Former President Carter, reacting to an energy crisis, shortages and high prices, donned a cardigan near a roaring fire in 1977 to tell Americans to sacrifice:"All of us must learn to waste less energy simply by keeping our thermostats, for instance, at 65 during the day and 55 at night. ... If we learn to live thriftily and remember the importance of helping our neighbors, then we can find ways to adjust."

OPINION

■ Trump invests in Ukraine’s future, by The Wall Street Journal editorial board.

■ Whole Hog Politics: How Trump misspent his political capital, by Chris Stirewalt, political editor, The Hill.

■ What Trump achieved in his first 100 days, by JD Vance, opinion contributor, The Washington Post.

THE CLOSER

© Associated Press | U.S. Air Force

And finally … ??? Congratulations to this week’s Morning Report Quiz winners! Air Force One trivia produced some savvy puzzlers.

✈️ Here’s who earned their wings while going 4/4: Rick Schmidtke, Michael McGinnis, Harry Strulovici, Pam Manges, Brian Hogan, Sari Wisch, Stan Wasser, Lynn Gardner, Frank Docktor, Stan Kirk, Mark Roeddiger, Savannah Petracca, Carmine Petracca, Steve James, John Trombetti and Chuck Schoenenberger.

They knew that President Trump, hoping for delivery of the delayed new model of Air Force One before he leaves office, dispatched Elon Musk this year to speak with Boeing about the plane’s timetable, according to March news accounts. 

Dwight D. Eisenhower was the first sitting president to travel in an aircraft dubbed “Air Force One.” 

President Kennedy approved Air Force One’s original iconic color scheme after detailed design consultations. The hue is often described as “Jackie Kennedy blue.” 

It is false that Air Force One flies with a high-tech escape pod in case of emergencies. 

(It was a memorable plot point in the 1997 film “Air Force One,” starring Harrison Ford.)

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