President-elect Donald Trump has named Representative Mike Waltz as his choice for the position of White House national security adviser for his upcoming administration.
Waltz, a former Green Beret with combat experience, was asked by Trump, 78, on Monday to take on the role as his primary national security adviser, a source revealed to The Post.
The Wall Street Journal initially reported on Trump’s decision to select the Florida Republican for this influential White House position.
This role doesn’t require Senate approval, meaning Waltz will be able to begin his duties immediately after Trump’s inauguration on January 20.
At 50, Waltz has been vocal about the threat posed by China, especially in his role on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
“The Chinese are on the march,” he warned during a “Fox & Friends” appearance last year. “We need to understand that within the next few years, they may make a move the likes of which we have never seen in the world.”
As a member of the House China Task Force, Waltz has raised concerns about the U.S. military’s preparedness for a potential conflict with China in the Indo-Pacific, emphasizing in a May 2023 interview that American warships are considerably older than those in China’s navy.
He has also been highly critical of the Harris-Biden administration’s response to the Chinese spy balloon incident last year, describing it as a wake-up call for America’s security.
“The Chinese spy balloon has drastically changed Americans’ sense of security,” he wrote in a February 2023 op-ed, likening the episode to the Soviet Union’s launch of the first satellite in 1957.
Additionally, Waltz, who represents Florida’s 6th Congressional District, has condemned the Harris-Biden administration’s approach to Iran’s attempts to target Trump.
“These plots from Iran are ongoing. And when [President Joe] Biden says nothing, [Vice President Kamala] Harris says nothing, the [Justice Department] tries to bury it, what message does Iran get? They get that we can keep trying to take Trump out and have no consequences,” Waltz stated on “Sunday Morning Futures” with Fox News in August.
“They’re trying to kill him. And we know from the intelligence community Iran doesn’t want Trump back,” he continued.
Waltz has criticized federal agencies’ handling of the investigation into the July 13 attempt on Trump’s life in Butler, Pennsylvania, suggesting delays in determining whether 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks acted independently.
“We’ve heard both the Secret Service and the FBI kind of phrase it in different ways — that everything they’ve seen he acted alone and that they have yet to find any co-conspirator … I find that hard to believe, and I want to see where’s the proof,” he told The Post in August.
“This isn’t an isolated incident that we could just take years to really take our time and unpack,” Waltz said. “There are ongoing threats as we speak. So yeah, I’m frustrated at how slow and how little we’ve learned.”
As Trump’s national security adviser, Waltz will likely tackle issues including the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and Israel’s battle against Hamas and Hezbollah in the Middle East.
While initially a staunch advocate for U.S. military support to Ukraine, Waltz has recently questioned whether continued aid is truly aligned with “America’s interest,” per Reuters.
Waltz has hinted that these resources might be better allocated toward countering China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific. In an NPR interview this month, he described Trump’s commitment to launching peace talks between Ukraine and Russia as “perfectly reasonable” and suggested that, if Russian President Vladimir Putin refuses to end his aggression, the U.S. could “take the handcuffs off of the long-range weapons we provided Ukraine.”
Waltz, like Trump, has advocated for greater defense spending from NATO allies. His 27-year service in the U.S. Army and National Guard only ended during his second term in Congress. Waltz’s military experience includes combat tours across Afghanistan, the Middle East, and Africa.
Additionally, he has served as a defense policy director for former Defense Secretaries Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates.
{Matzav.com}