U.S. Ambassador to the UN. Mike Waltz said on Sunday that he did not believe President Donald Trump was likely to take any options off the table with regard to the ongoing military action in Iran — even options that could compromise oil production in the region.
Waltz, a Green Beret veteran, addressed recent attacks on Iran&#8217;s &#8220;crown jewel&#8221; — Kharg Island — and said that while the initial attacks specifically targeted military assets, he did not believe Trump would rule out the possibility of strikes that damaged the regime&#8217;s oil infrastructure.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
TAPPER: Is President Trump prepared to target those oil facilities on Kharg Island? 
UN AMB. MIKE WALTZ: &#8220;Well President Trump&#8217;s not going to take any options off the table&#8230; I would certainly think he would maintain that optionality if he wants to take down their energy… <a href="https://t.co/EIonYFHELY">pic.twitter.com/EIonYFHELY</a>
— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) <a href="https://twitter.com/CNNSOTU/status/2033179456186044769?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 15, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Tapper noted that Kharg Island was Iran&#8217;s &#8220;key oil hub&#8221; — and that the attacks thus far had been limited to solely military targets — but turned to Waltz and asked, &#8220;Iran says oil production on the island is proceeding normally. If Iran does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz, is President Trump prepared to target those oil facilities — which, as you know, handle 90% of Iran&#8217;s crude oil exports — and if so, are you worried that could risk even more of an escalation when it comes to the Strait of Hormuz?&#8221;
&#8220;Well President Trump&#8217;s not going to take any options off the table, Jake, and he pointed out in his Truth [post] when he announced the military infrastructure strikes on Kharg, which by the way they used to project their fast boats, drones, and other types of attacks into the Gulf, that he deliberately hit the military infrastructure only — for now,&#8221; Waltz replied.
&#8220;I would certainly think he would maintain that optionality if he wants to take down their energy infrastructure,&#8221; he added. Waltz went on to say that an unrestrained Iran had been using those military assets to put a stranglehold on shipping — whether of oil or other goods — from other countries, and that those efforts would only redouble and get more dangerous for all involved if Iran had been allowed to obtain nuclear capabilities.
Trump said late on Friday, after ordering the strikes on Kharg Island, that his intention was to only hit military targets unless Iran continued to wreak havoc on any ships attempting to travel through the Strait of Hormuz.

2023 Concordia Annual Summit – September 18

Trump’s United Nations Head Lays Out What Cards Trump Won’t Take Off The Table With Iran

Trump's United Nations Head Lays Out What Cards Trump Won't Take Off The Table With Iran

Donald Trump

Iran

Media

Mike Waltz

Military

Politics

The United Nations is at serious risk of “imminent financial collapse” after President Trump slashed U.S. funding last month, Secretary-General António Guterres warned in a letter.
In a letter sent to all 193 member states last week, Guterres warned that the U.N. could run out of money by July. &#8220;I cannot overstate the urgency of the situation we now face. We cannot execute budgets with uncollected funds, nor return funds we never received,&#8221; the secretary-general <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr579mdv4m7o">wrote</a>, according to the BBC.
President Trump pulled out of UNESCO, the U.N. cultural agency; the World Health Organization; and the U.N. Human Rights Council in January, citing waste, mismanagement, and a lack of financial commitment from other countries.
“We walked away from WHO, the World Health Organization; UNRWA, the U.N. agency in Gaza that’s been completely infiltrated by Hamas. We walked out of it and defunded that, too. The so-called human rights councils that cater to countries like North Korea and Venezuela and Iran. We’ve walked away from that,” United States Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/mike-waltz-says-the-trump-administration-has-a-plan-to-save-the-united-nations">told</a> The Daily Wire in December. “It’s really about focusing our effort on the parts that align with an America First agenda and defunding and walking away from the rest of it — the nonsense.”
The U.S., previously the U.N.&#8217;s largest contributor, did not pay its regular budget contribution in 2025 and provided only 30% of the expected funding for U.N. peacekeeping operations. In December, the U.S. pledged $2 billion to U.N. humanitarian programs, a fraction of the $17 billion it spent in 2022, according to the BBC.
“[The U.N.] needs to get back to basics, stop with all of the other nonsense, trying to do everything for everybody all over the world. Stop with the focus on climate, stop with the focus on gender and all of these other social issues, regardless of how you feel about them, and let’s get back to peace,” Waltz said.
Prior to recent funding reductions, U.S. taxpayers had been providing 22% of the U.N.&#8217;s regular budget, more than the next three highest contributors <a href="https://www.cfr.org/articles/funding-united-nations-what-impact-do-us-contributions-have-un-agencies-and-programs">combined</a>.
President Trump has shifted his focus to his newly established Board of Peace, which is intended to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-asked-putin-to-join-his-board-of-peace-heres-what-that-means">oversee</a> the technocratic transitional government for Gaza, among other geopolitical objectives.
The Board has a $1 billion permanent membership fee, and with 60+ countries invited, is seen by many as a potential challenger to the United Nations.
Several other major donor nations have also announced funding reductions. The United Kingdom and Germany have implemented significant cuts to their foreign aid budgets, further compounding the U.N.&#8217;s financial troubles.
Guterres’ letter described the current crisis as &#8220;categorically different&#8221; from previous financial challenges, noting that only 77% of assessed contributions were paid in 2025, leaving billions in unpaid dues.
The Secretary-General concluded that the “integrity of the entire system” depends on all nations honoring their &#8220;assessed contributions,” and should the budget shortfalls remain unaddressed, the U.N. must &#8220;fundamentally overhaul our financial rules to prevent an imminent financial collapse.&#8221;

World Leaders Gather For The 80th Session Of The United Nations General Assembly

United Nations Chief Warns Of ‘Imminent Financial Collapse’ After Trump Slashes Funding

America First

Board of Peace

foreign affairs

Global Politics

Trump Administration

United Nations

United States Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz says President Donald Trump is directing him to steer the group back to its original mission: peace.
In an interview with the Daily Wire editor-in-chief Brent Scher, Waltz laid out how his new role at the United Nations advances President Trump’s unapologetic America First approach to international diplomacy in a body that he claims has been ineffective.
“You&#8217;re supposed to be stopping wars, ending wars, preventing wars,” Waltz said. “That was the establishment of the UN and its purpose after World War II to prevent any other future world wars. And yet here we are 80 years later and we have more conflicts around the globe than ever.”
While critics have advocated that the United States abandon the UN, Waltz said the organization can be salvaged if it implements the reforms at the top of his agenda. According to Waltz, the UN is a mechanism to get other countries to start “pulling their weight” to establish peace. As an example, he cited the efforts to combat the gangs in Haiti, shifting from a primarily United States-led effort to include other countries such as Kenya.
“Sharing the burden and having a mechanism where everyone can come in and do that is also important,” he said. “We&#8217;ve just got to get it back focused on those peacekeeping and peace enforcement missions that they did so well in the past and that they strayed from in recent decades.”
Waltz also stressed that certain UN agencies and programs need to be defunded when they do not align with American interests.
“We walked away from WHO, the World Health Organization. UNRWA, the UN agency in Gaza that&#8217;s been completely infiltrated by Hamas. We walked out of it and defunded that too. The so-called human rights councils that cater to countries like North Korea and Venezuela and Iran. We&#8217;ve walked away from that,” he said. “It&#8217;s really about focusing our effort on the parts that align with an America First agenda and defunding and walking away from the rest of it — the nonsense.”
Waltz added that there are also far too many UN agencies focused on climate change.
“At most you need one, if not none, but you definitely don&#8217;t need seven. So that&#8217;s the kind of reform agenda that we&#8217;re driving here. We&#8217;re defunding all kinds of these agencies again, led by the president with an America First agenda,” Waltz said.
Among the agencies he believes are essential, he cited telecommunications, global shipping, and civil aviation.
“When I land, when flying internationally, I want everybody speaking English,” he said. “Landing the planes the same way, the mechanics train the same way. We want them aligned with our standards, not China or Russia&#8217;s standards.”
Overall, Waltz emphasized the UN’s importance as a platform for countries to discuss diplomacy.
“We should have one place in the world where everybody can talk, where everyone can come together and at least try to hammer things out with using diplomacy, either to end wars or prevent wars,” he said. “ I want that American-led and in the United States, not in places like Beijing or Moscow. But I&#8217;m 100% on board. We&#8217;ve got to clean house.”
Of the successes so far under the Trump administration, Waltz says the UN agreed to cut over 2,600 bureaucratic positions, a 15% overall budget cut, and 25% of its peacekeepers around the world.
“So we’re cutting, we&#8217;re DOGE-ing, we&#8217;re going to get them back to basics in line with the president&#8217;s vision.”
“They need to get back to basics, stop with all of the other nonsense, trying to do everything for everybody all over the world. Stop with the focus on climate, stop with the focus on gender and all of these other social issues, regardless of how you feel about them, and let&#8217;s get back to peace,” Waltz said.
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Waltz said a major focus is ensuring that the United Nations does more to stop the persecution of Christians around the world.
“Well, it actually started with President Trump, who put a spotlight on the persecution of Christians around the world, but according to most NGOs, 80% of Christians that are killed and persecuted actually happens in Nigeria,” he said.
Waltz praised rapper Nicki Minaj for advocating to stop the persecution of Christians in Nigeria alongside him in the UN last month.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Thrilled to be Honorary Ambassador to the Barbz! <a href="https://twitter.com/NICKIMINAJ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@NICKIMINAJ</a> <a href="https://t.co/Sq9OHYhaZu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pic.twitter.com/Sq9OHYhaZu</a>
— Ambassador Mike Waltz (@michaelgwaltz) <a href="https://twitter.com/michaelgwaltz/status/1990948047023374560?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">November 19, 2025</a></blockquote>
“Someone like her, with her quarter billion followers across all of our platforms. It&#8217;s an unlikely pairing. I didn&#8217;t see that one coming, but where we can work together to not just put a spotlight and educate people but to make sure there&#8217;s real action.”
Waltz acknowledged that representing the United States at the UN can be challenging, given the presence of adversarial countries, including an incident in which the Cuban ambassador <a href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/eU72MjsdYR4?time_continue=92&amp;embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F&amp;source_ve_path=Mjg2NjY" target="_blank" rel="noopener">disrupted</a> one of his speeches and accused him of lying.
“There are times where I think the tribes in the Middle East, Afghanistan are easier than here,” Waltz said. “I&#8217;m a Green Beret by background. I&#8217;ve served all over the world. It isn&#8217;t easy. My wife sometimes says I&#8217;m a masochist, but look, this is the world stage right here in New York.”

United Nations Security Council Meets To Consider Trump’s Gaza Peace Plan

Mike Waltz Says The Trump Administration Has A Plan To Save The United Nations

When Nicki Minaj stepped up to the podium at the United Nations on November 18th, wearing a somber black suit instead of her usual bubblegum pink, one of the world’s most influential rap artists became one of the most unexpected voices to join the fight against Christian persecution in Nigeria.
“In Nigeria, hundreds of communities live in fear simply because of how they worship,” she said. “Protecting Christians is not about taking sides, and it is not about dividing people. It is about uniting humanity.”
Her appearance was arranged by United Nations Ambassador Michael Waltz, who has spent the past several months pushing world leaders to acknowledge the religious genocide in Africa’s most populous and economically successful nation. “We are witnessing atrocities,” Waltz declared earlier in the session. “One bullet at a time, one torched Bible at a time.”
The unlikely partnership between the superstar and former counterterrorism officer came at a moment when the mass Christian killings in Nigeria have triggered the most direct American criticism of Nigeria’s government in decades. President Donald Trump recently reinstated Nigeria’s designation as a “Country of Particular Concern,&#8221; a formal label that opens the door to sanctions, aid restrictions, and military pressure.
A Crisis Long in the Making
Violence in Nigeria’s central and northern regions is not new, and the perpetrators come from a variety of Muslim groups, from Fulani herder militias in the Middle Belt to Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province jihadis in the North. Leery of seeming critical of Islam, legacy media outlets have for years regurgitated the narrative of the Nigerian government, shying away from characterizing the attacks as religious persecution. Instead, they’ve cited secondary causes — land disputes, ethnic tensions, weather-related displacement — that sometimes overlap with religious motives.
But in several recent congressional hearings, press briefings, and policy papers, consistent evidence has emerged that Christian communities, particularly in rural regions, are being disproportionately targeted specifically because they are Christians. The numbers vary, depending on the source, but even the most conservative estimates are grim. Advocacy organizations report 7,000 Christians killed and 7,900 abducted this year alone, with more than 19,000 churches destroyed. In a <a href="https://rileymoore.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-moore-introduces-resolution-condemning-persecution-christians" target="_blank" rel="noopener">resolution</a> condemning the religious violence, Texas Congressman Riley Moore noted that as many as 100,000 Christians have been killed since 2009.
Humanitarian groups like Open Doors stress that more Christians are killed every year in Nigeria than the rest of the world combined, making it the most dangerous nation on earth for Christ followers. Yet under the Obama and Biden administrations, the federal government refused to classify the violence as persecution, with Biden reversing the first Trump administration’s designation of Nigeria as a “country of particular concern.”
Texas Senator Ted Cruz has spent years trying to convince his fellow lawmakers to adopt a clearer, more confrontational response to the Nigerian government’s ongoing refusal to address the violence. He told The Daily Wire the Nigerian government has not simply turned a blind eye to the situation but in some cases are complicit in the persecution and murder of Christians.
Cruz’s advocacy has helped initiate a wave of renewed interest in the crisis that was further amplified once Minaj and Ambassador Waltz moved the conversation to the global stage.
Cruz recounted that when Senate Republicans were invited to breakfast at the White House shortly before the Country of Particular Concern designation was reinstated, he pulled the president aside and personally thanked him.
“This unlocks targeted sanctions,” he explained. “It unlocks the ability to use deep economic leverage. It allows the administration to say enough is enough.” He added that Nigeria has 12 states enforcing Sharia-based laws and maintains a federal blasphemy statute. According to Cruz, these legal structures “are used to persecute Christians” and create an environment where extremist groups can operate with impunity.
The senator takes particular issue with outlets like the Associated Press reporting that the data does not support a Christian genocide.
“I think you could actually teach [the AP report] in a journalism class as an example of pure political hackery and dishonest reporting,” he said. Cruz believes the media reluctance stems from a worldview that downplays religious persecution when the victims are Christian. He compared it to coverage of the war in Gaza, alleging that some outlets report atrocities selectively depending on who commits them.
To bolster the strength of the Country of Particular Concern designation, Cruz has introduced the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/2747" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act of 2025</a>, which will place targeted sanctions on Nigerian officials who enforce Sharia law and facilitate violence against Christians and other minority groups.
The View from the Ground
In Abuja, officials maintain that the crisis cannot be reduced to persecution and accuse some in Washington of using Nigeria as a “political football.” Government spokesmen insist the country’s constitution forbids religious discrimination and that Muslim communities also sometimes suffer violence at the hands of more extreme Muslims. These are the claims regularly echoed by major American media.
But those on the ground in Nigeria say that while it’s true other Muslims are sometimes targeted for not being “Muslim enough,” there’s no question that Christians are disproportionately targeted.
Judd Saul, founder of Equipping the Persecuted, ministers on the ground in Nigeria, and he told The Daily Wire that the Nigerian government regularly fails to act to protect Christians, even with ample forewarning. Yet outlets like the AP and Reuters are content to echo their talking points.
“The mainstream media never shows up. They just take the government’s word for it, and every time Christians are killed, it’s always ‘unknown gunmen.’ But we know who’s doing it,” Saul said. He added that legacy reporters need to visit Nigeria to see the situation on the ground for themselves. “They need to see the dead bodies, hug the wounded, hug the survivors, be there feeding them when they&#8217;re starving, like I have,” he added.
Other Americans ministering in Nigeria echo Saul&#8217;s sentiment.
“Let&#8217;s not forget, [Nigerian] Christians are second class citizens,” Pastor Brad Brandon, who leads a Christian relief organization Across Nigeria, told The Daily Wire. “Oftentimes, they have trouble even buying food at the market or getting medical care or education for their children simply because they&#8217;re Christians.” He further pointed out that of the 3.5 million people in Nigeria’s displaced persons camps, eighty percent are Christians who are there because their homes and their villages have been destroyed by Muslim attackers.
“When somebody denies that this is a genocide or Christians are being targeted, like the AP has done, if it wasn&#8217;t so serious and horrific, it would be laughable,” Brandon said, citing the Yelwata massacre where 250 Christians were slaughtered in a single night. &#8220;Entire villages were razed, houses burned, women and children shot as they fled the flames,&#8221; he said. Brandon himself witnessed the violence close up in 2021 when a Nigerian colleague was hacked to death in his bed by extremists after they torched his church and home during a ministry tour. &#8220;We&#8217;ve lost friends, scouts, partners. We’re constantly in and out of massacre sites,&#8221; Brandon added.
It’s a reality that has led some Nigerian pastors to carry weapons during worship services, prepared to protect their flocks physically if need be.
A Growing Movement
As recognition of the crisis in Nigeria has grown, American churches have begun organizing prayer vigils, fundraising campaigns, and policy petitions. Ambassador Waltz is preparing for closed-door consultations with his UN counterparts in hopes of securing a multilateral fact-finding mission. Lawmakers in the United Kingdom have called for a parliamentary inquiry into Nigeria’s security situation, while several members of the European Parliament have urged the European Union to reassess its aid strategy.
Yet for survivors and displaced families in Nigeria, the long-awaited international response can feel distant and lack urgency. Viral videos circulating online show Nigerian pastors standing in mass graves pleading for help, describing ruined congregations and inaccessible hospitals. One recent clip showed a rural priest surrounded by makeshift wooden crosses, mourning dozens of victims buried less than a day earlier.
Whether Minaj’s intervention will translate into sustainable policy outcomes remains unclear. Celebrity involvement has, historically, produced mixed results for international crises. But for now, what she has undeniably done is thrust Nigeria’s crisis into headlines it had rarely reached. Her UN appearance led to days of debate across cable news and radio programs. Editorial boards that had not covered Nigeria’s rural violence in months published opinion pieces after her social media posts praising President Trump for his action. Lawmakers previously unfamiliar with the issue requested briefings.
As Waltz put it afterward, “Sometimes the world pays attention only when someone unexpected steps forward.”
In the wake of the UN event, the Trump administration is reportedly considering targeted sanctions on specific Nigerian officials accused of failing to prevent extremist violence. The State Department is preparing a report on blasphemy laws and religious-freedom restrictions in Nigeria’s northern states. Ambassador Waltz has indicated that he hopes to formalize new security conditions for future arms sales.
Nigeria, facing diplomatic and economic pressure, is weighing how to respond. Officials have hinted that they will accept additional counterterrorism support but will resist any effort to frame the conflict primarily as religious.
Meanwhile, advocates like Saul say the crisis cannot wait for geopolitical negotiations. He argues that international pressure must intensify immediately, before more villages are burned and more families displaced.
International Stakes and China’s Influence
One complicating factor, though, is China’s expanding presence on the African continent. China is Nigeria’s largest bilateral lender and a key investor in infrastructure, energy, and mining, and it benefits from the status quo. Cruz believes that economic relationship gives the United States further geopolitical incentive to put pressure on Nigerian officials to stop the violence.
“Communist China is the single largest geopolitical threat facing the United States for the next hundred years,” Cruz said. “Their objective is unequivocal. They&#8217;re not shy about it. It is global domination. It is economic domination. It is military domination. And Africa is one of the major battlegrounds where China is trying to exert its influence.”
According to Cruz, China benefits from a weakened or destabilized Nigeria because radical Islamist factions tend to resent Western influence more than Chinese investment.
“Chinese communists are perfectly fine with persecuting Christians,” he said. “The Chinese communist government persecutes Christians in China. They also recognize that the more influence radical Islamists have in Nigeria, the less likely Nigeria is to align with America because radical Islam hates America. And so, from China&#8217;s perspective, if they want Nigeria to side with the communists, one of the ways of doing so is trying to strengthen the forces that hate Americans, that hate Christians, that hate the West. And sadly, that&#8217;s exactly what China is doing.”
For Cruz, Waltz, and scores of humanitarian workers, the moment to stake a clear position on Nigerian persecution feels long overdue. And for the families living through nightly attacks, fleeing burned homes, or burying loved ones in village clearings, it is simply another chapter in a long struggle for survival — one they hope the world, finally, has begun to see.

Nicki Minaj

Nicki Minaj Puts Nigeria’s Christian Persecution In The Spotlight

Christian

Nigeria

Persecution

Ted Cruz

The Nicki Minaj and Donald Trump friendship that nobody saw coming got another boost on Monday night, when the president dropped a video on TikTok featuring her song that was immediately called &#8220;pretty incredible&#8221; by the rapper.
Trump and First Lady Melania bring back their iconic dance to Nicki Minaj’s 2012 hit “Beez in the Trap,” a song that’s once again blowing up on social media.
Under the TikTok video, a mashup of Minaj and &#8220;What&#8217;s up&#8221; by 4 Blondes, is Minaj herself, commenting: &#8220;This is pretty incredible. Thank you.&#8221;
<blockquote class="tiktok-embed" style="max-width: 605px; min-width: 325px;" cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@whitehouse/video/7568669729519389966" data-video-id="7568669729519389966">
<section><a title="@whitehouse" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@whitehouse?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@whitehouse</a>The best to ever do it 🇺🇸<a title="♬ original sound - The White House" href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-7568669763774909197?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">♬ original sound &#8211; The White House</a></section>
</blockquote>
Users quickly noticed the Minaj praise, and called it &#8220;the Nicki and Trump collab we didn&#8217;t know we needed.&#8221;
&#8220;Nicki Minaj and President Trump teaming up was not on my 2025 bingo card,&#8221; another said.
The White House posted the video with Minaj&#8217;s music days after she praised Trump for condemning the killing of Christians in Nigeria. On Saturday, Minaj <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-deep-sense-of-gratitude-nicki-minaj-praises-trump-for-action-on-persecuted-christians">said</a> she had a &#8220;deep sense of gratitude&#8221; seeing Trump pledge to stand up for the persecuted.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">No group should ever be persecuted for practicing their religion. We don’t have to share the same beliefs in order for us to respect each other.
Numerous countries all… <a href="https://t.co/2M5sPiviQu">pic.twitter.com/2M5sPiviQu</a>
— Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) <a href="https://twitter.com/NICKIMINAJ/status/1984566555460485280?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 1, 2025</a></blockquote>
&#8220;Reading this made me feel a deep sense of gratitude,&#8221; Minaj said. &#8220;We live in a country where we can freely worship God. Thank you to the President and his team for taking this seriously. God bless every persecuted Christian. Let&#8217;s remember to lift them up in prayer.&#8221;
The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, praised Minaj for using her platform to stand up for the Christians in Nigeria, inviting her to visit with him at the embassy in New York.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/NICKIMINAJ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NICKIMINAJ</a>, thank you for using your platform to speak out in defense of the Christians being persecuted in Nigeria.
We cannot allow this to continue. Every brother and sister of Christ must band together and say, “Enough!”
If you ever find yourself in New York, come by the… <a href="https://t.co/UwRmZ4cATd">https://t.co/UwRmZ4cATd</a>
— Ambassador Mike Waltz (@michaelgwaltz) <a href="https://twitter.com/michaelgwaltz/status/1984609886626308236?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 1, 2025</a></blockquote>
Trump&#8217;s initial comment that won praise from Minaj said that Christianity was &#8220;facing an existential threat in Nigeria.”
“Thousands of Christians are being killed,” he wrote. “Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter.”
“When Christians, or any such group, is slaughtered like is happening in Nigeria (3,100 versus 4,476 Worldwide), something must be done!” the president continued. “The United States cannot stand by while such atrocities are happening in Nigeria, and numerous other Countries. We stand ready, willing, and able to save our Great Christian population around the World!”
Trump has threatened to take military action in Nigeria and pull all U.S. aid from the country.
&#8220;They&#8217;re killing record numbers of Christians in Nigeria&#8230; and killing them in very large numbers,&#8221; Trump said on Air Force One Sunday. &#8220;We aren&#8217;t going to allow that to happen.&#8221;

Untitled design (1)

Nicki Minaj Gushes Over Trump Using Her Music In White House TikTok: ‘Pretty Incredible’

Christians

Executive

A global tax on shipping emissions won’t take effect after pressure from the Trump administration to abandon the climate activist-fueled proposal.  
The International Maritime Organization had been set to vote on Friday on adopting a global carbon tax aimed at pushing the shipping industry to stop using fossil fuels. But that vote did not happen after President Donald Trump on Thursday <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115385308751129485">called</a> for other countries to oppose the tax, saying that the United States would not “tolerate” or “adhere” to the measure. 
Instead, the International Maritime Organization, an agency of the United Nations that regulates shipping, moved Friday to postpone the vote on the tax for a year. 
“Now you have one year, you will continue to work on several aspects of these amendments,” <a href="https://apnews.com/article/shipping-climate-change-carbon-fee-a5f854e7028d08035689db50814a6519">said</a> Arsenio Dominguez, the secretary general of the International Maritime Organization. “You have one year to negotiate and talk and come to consensus.”
The decision was praised by Trump administration officials who spent the week fighting the proposal. 
“This is another HUGE win for [Trump],” Secretary of State Marco Rubio <a href="https://x.com/SecRubio/status/1979209616425644482">said</a>. “Thanks to his leadership, the United States prevented a massive UN tax hike on American consumers that would have funded progressive climate pet projects. Our country will continue to lead the way and put America FIRST.”
UN Ambassador Mike Waltz <a href="https://x.com/michaelgwaltz/status/1979196333886935533">praised</a> Rubio’s efforts to fight the tax. 
“Huge push by [Rubio] and the State Dept team. Strong diplomacy that put American business and consumers first WON THE DAY over an ideological carbon tax from the UN and EU,” said Waltz. 
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Last week, the Trump administration <a href="https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesperson/2025/10/taking-action-to-defend-america-from-the-uns-first-global-carbon-tax-the-international-maritime-organizations-imo-net-zero-framework-nzf">warned</a> that the tax could increase shipping costs by up to 10% and said that it was considering a number of retaliatory actions for countries that support the measure. These actions included investigating countries pursuing anti-competitive practices, imposing visa restrictions and increasing processing fees, and placing additional port fees and commercial penalties. 
“The United States will be moving to levy these remedies against nations that sponsor this European-led neocolonial export of global climate regulations,” a statement from the Trump administration said. “We will fight hard to protect our economic interests by imposing costs on countries if they support the [Net Zero Framework].”

White House US President Donald Trump

‘Huge Win’: Trump Admin Delivers Blow To UN Climate Agenda, Derails ‘Ideological’ Global Carbon Tax

Carbon Emissions

Climate Change

Environment

Marco Rubio

State Department

Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz made it absolutely clear on Thursday that the United States would not support the global carbon tax being pushed by the International Maritime Organization — and President Donald Trump voiced his agreement on the subject.
Waltz addressed the issue with &#8220;Fox &amp; Friends&#8221; host Brian Kilmeade, and he said that the United States was also encouraging other nations to vote &#8220;no&#8221; on the new tax — and that there could be consequences for those that chose to vote in favor of the measure.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
As <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/SecRubio?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecRubio</a> have made clear, the United States is a hard NO on <a href="https://twitter.com/IMOHQ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@IMOHQ</a>’s global carbon tax scheme that harms the American consumer. We’re calling on other nations to vote with us or face serious consequences. <a href="https://t.co/uKX9dVeSK8">pic.twitter.com/uKX9dVeSK8</a>
— Ambassador Mike Waltz (@USAmbUN) <a href="https://twitter.com/USAmbUN/status/1978878850810392959?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 16, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;This is a bigger deal than I think anybody realizes,&#8221; Waltz, a former Florida congressman and Green Beret veteran, told Kilmeade. He went on to say that others within the Trump administration — from Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to Secretary of State Marco Rubio — were all in agreement that the new tax had to go.
&#8220;They have been loud and clear on this, the United States is a hard no,&#8221; he declared. &#8220;This would essentially put a global tax on everything that is involved in trade and then everything that goes on a ship &#8230; this is trying to drive carbon emissions from shipping to zero.&#8221;
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Waltz went on to note that the move would also subsidize certain biofuels — and would greatly benefit China because in order to retrofit ships to use the new fuels, businesses would have to work with Chinese shipyards.
Trump also weighed in on the issue with a post to his Truth Social platform, saying, &#8220;I am outraged that the International Maritime Organization is voting in London this week to pass a global Carbon Tax. The United States will NOT stand for this Global Green New Scam Tax on Shipping, and will not adhere to it in any way, shape, or form. We will not tolerate increased prices on American Consumers OR, the creation of a Green New Scam Bureaucracy to spend YOUR money on their Green dreams. Stand with the United States, and vote NO in London tomorrow!&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<a href="https://t.co/m2BA6Wt3kC">pic.twitter.com/m2BA6Wt3kC</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1978894758593323154?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 16, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

‘A Hard No’: Mike Waltz Says U.S. Won’t Stand For UN Org’s Global Carbon Tax

carbon

Taxes

President Donald Trump gears up for his highly anticipated United Nations address, the administration warns pregnant women against using Tylenol, and Trump moves to stop companies from “shipping in cheap foreign labor.”
It’s Tuesday, September 23, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day.
Morning Wire is available on video! You can watch today’s episode here:
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If you would rather listen to your news, today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:
<iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/trumps-un-address-tylenol-autism-link-9-23-25/id1576594336?i=1000728015326" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Foreign Policy Roundup</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-975713" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/U.N.-Awaits-Trump-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/U.N.-Awaits-Trump-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/U.N.-Awaits-Trump-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/U.N.-Awaits-Trump-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/U.N.-Awaits-Trump-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/U.N.-Awaits-Trump.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: Trump is scheduled to make a highly anticipated address to the United Nations on Tuesday.
What we’re tracking: Whether Trump will commit to more UN funding.
After taking office, Trump withdrew the United States from UN agencies like the Human Rights Council and World Health Organization, rescinded about a billion dollars in funding that Congress had already appropriated, and ordered a review of any future funds going to the UN, saying he wanted to ensure its mission “aligned with our national interests.”
As a result, the UN is facing a severe budget crunch — to save money, it has initiated plans to relocate its offices from New York and Geneva to lower-cost alternatives, such as Nairobi. It is also planning to cut thousands of jobs and consolidate several smaller agencies. 
Trump’s speech will reportedly touch on “his vision of how the United States is approaching the world” — the assembly is hoping that approach includes funding commitments for the UN.
The Waltz: Mike Waltz, a former Green Beret and Florida congressman, was confirmed by the Senate on Friday to serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and hit the ground running.
The Push for “Palestine”: Trump’s speech will coincide with a separate conference on Palestinian statehood that’s being led by France and Saudi Arabia.
Canada, Britain, and Australia each offered recognition of a Palestinian state for the first time this weekend. They joined about 150 of 193 UN member states that have done so.
But while Trump has seemingly grown more frustrated with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying he needs to “wrap up” the war in Gaza, he’s still expected to offer his support of Israel today. The State Department issued a statement calling the push for Palestinian Statehood a “publicity stunt” and “reward for terrorism”. 
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas will make the case for statehood to the UN General Assembly on Thursday. He’ll have to do it remotely after the Trump administration canceled his visa. 
Taking back Bagram: Last week, President Trump announced his intention to reclaim Bagram Air Base, which was abandoned and taken over by the Taliban following the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan under former President Joe Biden. 
When Trump was asked if he was willing to deploy American troops to retake the base, he refrained from giving a clear answer.
“We&#8217;re talking now to Afghanistan, and we want it back and we want it back soon, right away. And if they don&#8217;t do it &#8211; if they don&#8217;t do it, you&#8217;re going to find out what I&#8217;m gonna do,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1969552386076090849">said</a>.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Autism Report</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-975715" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Tylenol-Autism-Link-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Tylenol-Autism-Link-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Tylenol-Autism-Link-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Tylenol-Autism-Link-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Tylenol-Autism-Link-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Tylenol-Autism-Link.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: President Trump and Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced significant findings on research concerning a spike in national autism rates. 
For weeks, there had been speculation about this, but Trump and Kennedy both linked one medication to a possible cause of autism and another to a possible treatment.
The cause: They said that the use of acetaminophen during pregnancy is tied to an increased risk of autism. Acetaminophen is the active ingredient in Tylenol and is one of the most widely used medications globally for pain relief and fever reduction. 
FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary: “We have an epidemic of autism that has increased 400% in the recent decades and we don&#8217;t have a known cause. Now this may be a cause, but when you have enough evidence to suggest an association and you have no other plausible cause, we have a duty to notify parents and doctors.”
The cure: The other major part of this announcement was that a drug called leucovorin, also known as folinic acid, can potentially help treat autism symptoms.
Makary: “We recognized that some kids with autism actually have an autoimmune disease. … And some doctors have actually started to test for this folate antibody, and they will then move on to treat some kids with this folinic acid or vitamin B12 that bypasses the receptor.”
Pharma’s view: Kirk Perry, the CEO of Kenvue, which makes Tylenol, reportedly had a “hastily scheduled meeting” with Secretary Kennedy last week over reports about this announcement. Perry argued in the private meeting that there is no causal link between Tylenol use during pregnancy and autism. He told Kennedy that Tylenol is a safe option for pregnant women, especially if they spike a fever, and added that other options actually do have links to birth defects. 
Since early September, the Kenvue stock has <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/us/trump-admin-report-linking-tylenol-to-autism-sends-kenvue-stock-sliding/articleshow/124049521.cms?utm_source=chatgpt.com&amp;from=mdr">dropped</a> around 15%. 
<h2 style="text-align: center;">H-1B Visa Debate</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-975717" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/H-1B-Price-Tag-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/H-1B-Price-Tag-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/H-1B-Price-Tag-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/H-1B-Price-Tag-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/H-1B-Price-Tag-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/H-1B-Price-Tag.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: President Trump signed an executive order that the White House says will curb abuse of the H-1B system that’s freezing Americans out of good jobs. The order has sparked confusion, leaving many wondering how it works and who it affects.
H-1B visas allow companies to hire foreign workers for specialized jobs when companies can’t find a skilled American to fill the position. Critics of the program argue that it has been abused to undercut American wages.
According to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, the order imposes a one-time $100,000 fee per employee on any company seeking a new H-1B visa. Leavitt said in an X post: “This is NOT an annual fee.” And it does not apply to any current H-1B holders who are outside the country or whose visas are currently up for renewal.
Divisive? Hardly: Some of the president’s supporters want the H-1B program massively reduced if not canceled entirely. But even among the president’s supporters in the tech sector, they’ll say that the system could use reform.
Back in December, Elon Musk, a strong supporter of the H-1B program, posted on <a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1873191959441084531" target="_blank" rel="noopener">X</a> that it is “broken and needs major reform.” He said many complaints about abuse could be addressed by “raising the minimum salary significantly and adding a yearly cost for maintaining the H1B, making it materially more expensive to hire from overseas than domestically.”
Project Firewall: The Department of Labor <a href="https://x.com/USDOL/status/1969161021232148795">rolled out</a> Project Firewall on Friday.
“For too long, Washington politicians have stayed silent as employers abused H-1B visas under President Trump. This is coming to an end today. The Department of Labor is proud to launch Project Firewall,” the department said in a promo video released on X.
Project Firewall is intended to crack down on abuse in the H-1B program. <a href="https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/osec/osec20250919">According to</a> the department, it “will conduct investigations of employers through Project Firewall to maximize H-1B program compliance.” Violations could result in back wages for workers, civil fines, or even disbarment from the H-1B program for a specified period. The goal here is to “safeguard the rights, wages, and job opportunities of highly skilled American workers by ensuring employers prioritize qualified Americans when hiring.”

MRN 9.23.25 Thumbnail V2

Morning Brief: Trump At The UN, New Visa Price Tag & Autism Bombshell

Department of Labor

Israel

Karoline Leavitt

Morning Wire

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The Senate confirmed Mike <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-heads-to-the-un-next-week-will-he-have-his-un-ambassador">Waltz</a> as United Nations ambassador Friday, just in time for President Donald Trump’s speech to the global body next week.
The former Republican congressman was confirmed in a 47-43 vote for the most prominent unfilled cabinet post in the Trump administration. His confirmation marks the end of a months-long holdup in the Trump administration campaign to secure a permanent UN ambassador.
“THANK YOU President Trump &amp; the U.S. Senate your trust and confidence to Make the UN Great Again <a class="css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3 r-1loqt21" dir="ltr" role="link" href="https://x.com/hashtag/MUNGA?src=hashtag_click">#MUNGA</a>,” Waltz wrote on X Friday.
<div id="attachment_973771" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-973771" class="wp-image-973771 size-full" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-2204329090.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="683" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-2204329090.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-2204329090-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-2204329090-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-2204329090-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />UN ambassador nominee Mike Waltz with President Donald Trump. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)</div>
Democrats delayed the nomination and were successful in getting Waltz and others’ nominations returned to committee. Waltz’s nomination passed out of committee — for the second time — on Wednesday morning.
Despite receiving a “no” vote from Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, Waltz’s nomination was approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Paul maintained his position during Friday’s vote as the sole Republican to oppose Waltz’s confirmation, while Democratic Sens. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Mark Kelly of Arizona, and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire were the only members of their party to vote “yes.”
<div id="attachment_890029" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-890029" class="wp-image-890029 size-full" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2203986591.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="683" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2203986591.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2203986591-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2203986591-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2203986591-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz (Photo by SAUL LOEB/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)</div>
Trump originally nominated Republican New York Rep. Elise Stefanik for the role before she quickly returned to her post in Congress to ensure the commander-in-chief maintained a solid Republican majority in the House.
In the interim, <a href="https://usun.usmission.gov/ambassador-dorothy-camille-shea/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dorothy Shea</a>, who was nominated by President Joe Biden and confirmed last summer, served as the acting ambassador.
Waltz was nominated in May after briefly serving as Trump’s national security advisor. Four months ago, Trump tapped him for the UN job.
The UN ambassador was previously the target of Democrats and critics in the media after The Atlantic’s Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/flurry-of-reports-claim-mike-waltz-out-as-national-security-adviser">revealed</a> that he’d been included in a Signal chat group with top administration officials — and had been privy to conversations about imminent strikes on Houthi terrorists.
Waltz admitted that Goldberg had been inadvertently added to the chat from his phone, while a full investigation revealed that Goldberg’s number had likely been added as a result of the iPhone’s “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/so-damn-dangerous-signal-chat-breach-linked-to-automated-suggestion-feature-on-iphone" target="_blank" rel="noopener">automated suggestion</a>” algorithm rather than any intentional move by Waltz or his staff. Administration officials who were in the group chat have maintained that they never discussed any classified information in their messages.
Trump’s speech at the UN General Assembly in New York next week comes amid peace deal negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, as well as efforts to end the Israel-Hamas war.

2024 Republican National Convention: Day 1

Senate Confirms Mike Waltz Just In Time For Trump To Crash United Nations

The Republican-led Senate confirmed 48 of President Donald Trump&#8217;s remaining nominees for below-cabinet-level federal positions, moving ahead with what&#8217;s called an &#8220;en bloc&#8221; nominee package after Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) invoked the nuclear option.
The bloc of 48 nominees confirmed on Thursday included a number of lower level War Department positions — and several ambassadorships including those held by Kimberly Guilfoyle and Callista Gingrich — and passed 51-47 along party lines.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
48 NOMINEES: CONFIRMED TODAY ✅<a href="https://twitter.com/SenateGOP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SenateGOP</a> ended liberal obstruction and CHANGED the Senate rules to get <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>’ sub-cabinet noms in place (in groups) and speed up the process.
We just confirmed the first “en bloc” nominee package of 48.
More to come. 👇 <a href="https://t.co/Dg4oxsrHCl">pic.twitter.com/Dg4oxsrHCl</a>
— Markwayne Mullin (@SenMullin) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenMullin/status/1968789762707218693?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 18, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Thune promised to move forward with the nuclear option a week earlier, saying that Democrats had stonewalled the process long enough.
Quoting Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senate-republicans-implement-plan-to-push-through-federal-nominees-as-shutdown-looms">Thune</a> said that it was unacceptable for nominees to be blocked unless there was a legitimate reason or concern that made it necessary.
Thune also pointed out the fact that all of the 48 nominees in the first bloc had actually been approved out of committee — with bipartisan support — and were only being blocked in the full Senate.
The Senate Democrats, he said at the time, were intentionally stalling the process by refusing to allow the nominees to be confirmed by voice vote or unanimous consent, as is traditionally done with civilian nominees.
One major nominee who did not make it through on Thursday was former Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL), whose nomination to serve as Ambassador to the United Nations is still pending. Democrats succeeded in recent weeks in having Waltz’s nomination sent back to committee.

The 2024 Republican National Convention

48 Trump Nominees Confirmed In One Vote After Senate Goes To Nuclear Option

Congress

John Thune

Senate GOP

President Donald Trump is heading to the United Nations next week for a monumental foreign policy speech to world leaders, and unless the Republican-led U.S. Senate goes into hyperdrive, he&#8217;ll do it with a Biden administration official as his UN ambassador.
Trump nominated former congressman Mike Waltz to represent the United States at the United Nations nearly four months ago, and his nomination passed out of committee — for the second time — on Wednesday morning, leaving only a full Senate vote between Waltz and confirmation. But with a packed legislative schedule and a wall of obstruction from Senate Democrats, many doubt the vote will take place in time to have him ready to go.
If Waltz isn&#8217;t confirmed, Trump&#8217;s speech will be carried out with <a href="https://usun.usmission.gov/ambassador-dorothy-camille-shea/">Dorothy Shea</a>, who was nominated by President Joe Biden and confirmed last summer, as the acting ambassador. Jason Miller, one of Trump&#8217;s closest advisors outside of the White House, says that should be unacceptable, and Republicans should make his confirmation a top priority.
&#8220;Schumer and the Democrats have intentionally obstructed Senate action on the president’s nominees, the majority leader has the power to keep the Senate in session to assure that Mike Waltz and the president’s team are seated at the United Nations ahead of next week’s meeting of the General Assembly — and he should do so,” Miller told The Daily Wire.
Asked about the Waltz nomination, the White House reiterated the urgency to have his team in place.
“President Trump has been clear that he wants all of his nominees confirmed as quickly as possible,” a White House official told The Daily Wire.
Republican Majority Leader John Thune&#8217;s office wouldn&#8217;t comment specifically on efforts to confirm Waltz by Monday, but said it shares Trump&#8217;s urgency.
“Not only do we share the White House’s goal of confirming the president’s team as quickly as possible, we’ve demonstrated it — confirming the Cabinet at the fastest pace in 20 years and recently breaking the Democrats’ historic nominations blockade, which will allow us to begin clearing the mounting backlog,” a spokeswoman for Thune said.
Thune has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senate-republicans-implement-plan-to-push-through-federal-nominees-as-shutdown-looms">implemented plans</a> to break the Democrat blockade. His procedural change allows for an unlimited number of federal nominations to be approved “en bloc” — simultaneously — so long as they were not judicial or cabinet-level positions.
READ MORE: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senate-republicans-implement-plan-to-push-through-federal-nominees-as-shutdown-looms">Senate Republicans Implement Plan To Push Through Federal Nominees As Shutdown Looms</a>
But this doesn&#8217;t apply to the United Nations post, the most prominent unfilled cabinet post in the Trump administration. It was originally slated to be filled by New York congresswoman Elise Stefanik, who stepped aside during the confirmation process to return to Congress and bolster the Republican majority. Waltz was tapped by Trump in May after a stint as the president&#8217;s top foreign policy advisor in the White House.
Trump&#8217;s appearance comes as he works to negotiate a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, as well as an end to Israel&#8217;s war on Hamas in Gaza. Trump has been a juggernaut on the world stage, and has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for his work to negotiate the end of conflicts around the world.
READ MORE: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pax-trumpana-trumps-resume-for-winning-the-nobel-peace-prize">Pax Trumpana: Trump’s Nobel Peace Prize Resume</a>
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has taken the lead on the United Nations ahead of the general assembly. Rubio <a href="http://dailywire.com/news/rubio-bars-mahmoud-abbas-from-entering-u-s-ahead-of-palestinian-statehood-push-at-un">blocked Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas</a> from entering the country, in anticipation of a push for Palestinian statehood at the gathering of world leaders.
Republicans almost certainly have the votes to confirm Waltz when the vote takes place. His nomination was delayed by Democrats, who managed to get Waltz and a handful of other nominees sent back to committee. He was approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee despite a &#8220;no&#8221; vote from Republican senator Rand Paul.
Waltz has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/make-the-un-great-again-waltz-challenges-antisemitism-china-favoritism-at-united-nations">pledged</a> to &#8220;Make the UN Great Again,&#8221; if confirmed.

President Trump Meets With NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte In The Oval Office Of The White House

Trump Heads To The UN Next Week. Will He Have His UN Ambassador?

Chuck Schumer

U.S. Senate

White House

Mike Waltz is one step closer to becoming President Donald Trump&#8217;s U.S. ambassador to the United Nations thanks to the help of a Senate Democrat.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 12-10 on Thursday to favorably report Waltz&#8217;s nomination to the full chamber. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), ranking member of the panel, joined with all but one Republican in voting &#8220;yes.&#8221; Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and the rest of the Democrats voted against Waltz.
In a <a href="https://x.com/AndrewDesiderio/status/1948413228628742521" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>, Shaheen said she disagrees with Waltz on some issues, &#8220;including his use of unclassified systems to coordinate sensitive documents.&#8221; However, the New Hampshire Democrat added that she views Waltz as representing a &#8220;moderating force with a distinguished record of military service and an extensive background in national security policymaking,&#8221; and she suggested the United States is &#8220;better off&#8221; with him as opposed to potential &#8220;alternatives.&#8221;
Shaheen also declared that she intends to hold Waltz &#8220;accountable&#8221; in the months and years ahead, and noted that she welcomes the Trump administration&#8217;s &#8220;commitment&#8221; to distribute $75 million of &#8220;lifesaving&#8221; foreign assistance.
Waltz, a former Florida congressman and Green Beret veteran, was ousted from his role as Trump&#8217;s national security adviser after he took responsibility for the &#8220;Signalgate&#8221; controversy earlier this year. Trump then <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/curveball-amid-rumors-that-mike-waltz-was-fired-trump-gives-him-another-top-admin-post" target="_blank" rel="noopener">picked</a> Waltz to become his envoy to the United Nations after <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-pulls-stefanik-nomination-united-nations-ambassador" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pulling</a> Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) as his nominee for the role. Stefanik is now <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/elise-stefanik-reportedly-set-to-challenge-hochul-for-new-york-governor" target="_blank" rel="noopener">expected</a> to run for governor of New York against the Democrat incumbent, Kathy Hochul.
During Waltz&#8217;s confirmation hearing, Paul confronted the nominee on the issue of war powers. Paul was the sole Republican to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senate-rebuffs-dem-bid-to-limit-trumps-iran-war-powers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vote</a> with the majority of Democrats in June for a failed measure that sought to stop Trump from launching further attacks on Iran with the consent of Congress.
&#8220;I guess it just worries me that you come more from the Liz Cheney wing of the party than the Donald Trump wing of the party,&#8221; Paul <a href="https://x.com/cspan/status/1945157737844777039" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>, to which Waltz contended in his reply: &#8220;I am squarely with the president &#8230; in terms of the limits on hard power.&#8221;
Paul <a href="https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/07/24/congress/waltz-nomination-overcomes-rand-paul-hurdle-00474459" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> told colleagues on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that he was willing to vote in favor of Waltz, but without a favorable recommendation.

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