This week saw President Donald Trump announce that, on an interim basis, Secretary of State Marco Rubio will replace Mike Waltz as national security advisor, who will now serve as ambassador to the United Nations.

The move apparently came as a shock to State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce, who learned about Rubio's new role from a reporter. 

"It is clear that I just heard this, from you"

According to the Washington Examiner, Bruce was informed of the president's decision during a press conference on Thursday.

State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce learns that her new boss is Marco Rubio from a reporter https://t.co/bvkDK7ze5R pic.twitter.com/YOL5caZCRT

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"It is clear that I just heard this, from you," Bruce said. "I have some insights as to the potential of certain things that might happen, but when the president … and this, of course, is all presidential decisions, so I’m with [the] State Department."

"You don’t want to get ahead of your skis in drawing conclusions or speculating about what may occur," the spokeswoman continued.

Trump praises Rubio, Waltz

"I've learned that things don’t happen until the president says they’re going to happen," Bruce added before asking if Trump's announcement had been made via Truth Social.

The Examiner noted that Trump had indeed just put up a post on Truth Social moments earlier in which he praised Walz for having "has worked hard to put our Nation’s Interests first."

The president also expressed words of praise for Rubio, who will continue to be secretary of State as well as act as Trump's new national security adviser.

"Together, we will continue to fight tirelessly to Make America, and the World, SAFE AGAIN," Trump declared as he drew to a close.

White House tensions emerge

Axios noted that Waltz was at the center of controversy last month after he mistakenly added The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg to a Signal group chat in which a planned strike on Yemen was being discussed.

The website also pointed to other sources of tensions within the White House, and those reportedly included Waltz's poor relationship with White House chief of staff Susie Wiles.

"He treated her like staff and didn't realize he's the staff, she's the embodiment of the president," a senior White House official was quoted as telling Axios.

The official further stressed that "Susie is a deeply loyal person and the disrespect was made all the worse because it was disloyal."