President Trump’s first staff reshuffle seems less alarming than initially feared by fans of national security adviser Mike Waltz. The man widely described as too hawkish for the president’s deal-making agenda is not actually leaving the administration, despite early dispatches. He will be our next United Nations envoy. Secretary Rubio, an advocate of muscular global policies, will try to replicate Henry Kissinger, doubling as interim security adviser.

We wish Mr. Rubio luck. Yet this is an apt moment to mark the growing concern that Mr. Trump is pursuing in his second term a far different foreign policy than he did in his first term. Then, remember, he pulled out of the articles of appeasement with Iran, moved the American embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, and supplied the first arms to Ukraine. No wars were launched. Foreign relations ended on a favorable footing.

This term we are seeing the emergence of a new generation more inclined to isolationism and appeasement. Vice President Vance, the director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, and some of Mr. Trump’s family members and friends are advocating a retreat from world affairs. Podcaster Tucker Carlson is now shilling for President Putin, claiming Qatar is “our greatest ally,” and saying America should stop arming Israel’s “medieval” Gaza war.      

This is the context in which Signal-gate erupted, signaling a lack of competence and seriousness. It could have been the cause for exiling Mr. Waltz from the White House. The former Green Beret’s detractors ignored his long support of Mr. Trump. Some, including the White House chief of staff, Susie Wiles, reckoned he strayed too far from the president’s agenda, the Wall Street Journal reports. Mr. Waltz has warned against appeasing Russia and Iran. 

America certainly needs a strong, hawkish voice at the UN, which has long since become an anti-Israel redoubt. Someone needs to push back as France and Saudi Arabia plan a conference there, in which countries, reportedly including our British ally, will advocate recognition of a Palestinian state. Secretary-General Guterres is mum while the contract of an antisemitic rapporteur, Francesca Albanese, is renewed as an independent Palestine “expert.”

Yet a Turtle Bay ambassadorship seems more like being kicked upstairs than a promotion. Including the editor of the Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg, in chats on the Signal application might be an error, but it’s far from a firing offense. More likely, Mr. Waltz might have pushed back too eagerly against appeasement. As a House member, he had strongly backed Ukraine and criticized diplomatic overtures to Iran. 

Mr. Trump’s special envoy, Steven Witkoff, is a favored White House apprentice and troubleshooter. He’s negotiating the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza, attempting to convince President Putin to cease fire in Ukraine, and meeting Iranian diplomats to reach a nuclear deal. Those saying that no deal is better than a bad deal fear that he is too eager to get opponents to quickly sign any bottom line. Is he? Either way, Mr. Witkoff is now cherished by MAGA doves. 

“Deep State neocons are smearing Steve Witkoff because they’re trying to undermine my father’s foreign policy agenda,” Donald Trump Jr. writes on X. “The establishment wants forever war!” We are encouraged that Mr. Rubio — who once likened the Biden administration’s Iran policy to a “Belgian diplomat at the UN” — will have the president’s ear. Even as Mr. Witkoff is negotiating with the mullahs, Mr. Rubio almost daily declares new Iran sanctions. 

Mr. Trump, meanwhile, is unleashing America’s military might against the Houthis in an effort to defend Red Sea freedom of navigation. “Message to IRAN,” Secretary Hegseth writes on X. “We see your LETHAL support to The Houthis. We know exactly what you are doing. You know very well what the U.S. Military is capable of — and you were warned. You will pay the CONSEQUENCE at the time and place of our choosing.”

Despite a pushback by isolationists in Mr. Trump’s inner circle, an Iran military option appears to still be on the table. The latest round of talks, which was scheduled for Saturday, is now postponed, indicating difficulties. One of Mr. Waltz’s first tasks could be to snap back global sanctions that existed before the 2015 nuclear deal. While Mr. Rubio’s White House stint might be a stopgap measure, he comes in at a crucial time.