President Donald Trump said Sunday night that former national security advisor Mike Waltz did not resign from that post — but got a “higher position “ when he was tapped for ambassador to the United Nations role.
Those were the words Trump said to reporters as he was on his way back to Washington, D.C., aboard Air Force One, Fox News reported.
The president said he plans to have another national security advisor in place in six months. He also said he still has confidence in Waltz to get the job done — whatever that job may be.
“I didn’t lose confidence in him,” Trump said. “He’s going to the United Nations for a reason. To me, I think it’s personally, if I had assurance for myself… I’d rather have that job than the other.”
Trump said Waltz did not quit his NSA post; Trump reassigned him.
“There was no resignation,” the president said.
Watch:
There was a major shakeup Thursday at the National Security Council when Waltz and other staffers were reportedly removed from their positions.
The president’s agenda regarding the national security advisor position is to have someone in that role by November.
A reporter asked if White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller was in the running.
“Stephen Miller at the top of the totem pole? I mean, I think he sort of indirectly already has that job… because he has a lot to say about a lot of things,” Trump responded . “He’s a very valued person in the administration, Stephen Miller.”
The conversation between Trump and reporters included trade deals. Trump was not as forthcoming, stating the U.S. is dealing with many countries.
“Nobody understands,” he said. “We’re negotiating with many countries. But at the end of this, I’ll set my own deals because I set the deal. They don’t set the deal. I set the deal.”
He further explained the U.S. is actually saving money by not dealing with China.
“They don’t have to deal with us, which is OK, because we lost under Biden. We’re losing $5 billion a day,” he said. “Think of it. $5 billion a day. Now we’re not dealing with China at all because of the tariffs… Because of that, we’re saving billions of dollars.”
The commander-in-chief talked about sending troops to Mexico to deal with cartels.
“It’s true because they should be. They are horrible people that have been killing people left and right,” Trump said. “They’ve made a fortune in selling drugs and destroying other people.”
He said cartels are responsible for importing fentanyl into the U.S. The outcome has been the deaths of over 300,000 people this year.
In simple terms, Trump called cartels “bad news.”
“If Mexico wanted help with the cartels, we would be honored to go in and do it,” Trump said. “I told [Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum] that I would be honored to go in and do it. The cartels are trying to destroy our country. They’re evil.”
Sheinbaum rejected that offer because, according to Trump, she is is afraid of the cartels she “can’t even think straight.”
