Donald Trump has asked Florida congressman Mike Waltz to be his White House national-security adviser, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The role does not require a Senate confirmation and consists of coordinating actions among the intelligence agencies, briefing the president, and carrying out the policies of the commander-in-chief. Four different individuals assumed the position in Trump’s first administration: Mike Flynn, H. R. McMaster, John Bolton, and Robert O’Brien.
Waltz is a veteran, having served in the Green Berets in Afghanistan, the Middle East, and Africa. Since entering Congress in 2019, Waltz has been a member of the Armed Services, Foreign Affairs, and Intelligence Committees.
He is known to be one of the premier China hawks on Capitol Hill, having served on the House China Task Force. The 27-year Army veteran has taken a more middle-of-the-road position on Ukraine, however. While he did acknowledge that halting Russia’s seizure of Ukraine was correct in a September 2023 Fox News op-ed, he also argued that “the era of Ukraine’s blank check from Congress is over.”
“In the near term, U.S. military aid must be contingent on European burden sharing and equal European assistance going forward,” he wrote. “The U.S. has provided nearly as much military aid to Ukraine — a reported $46.6 billion — as every other nation combined.”
Just this month, Waltz told NPR that it remains “perfectly reasonable” for President-elect Trump to be hopeful for a negotiation between the two nations. He added that if Russian president Vladimir Putin failed to participate in talks, the U.S. has “leverage, like taking the handcuffs off of the long-range weapons we provided Ukraine as well.”
“His economy and his war machine will dry up very quickly,” Waltz said. “I think that will get Putin to the table.”
The 50-year-old told NPR after the election of the immense opportunity that Silicon Valley offers for national security.
“There is a whole slew of new technologies from Silicon Valley and elsewhere that are really chomping at the bit to help with our defense and security issues, and they can’t break through the bureaucracy,” Waltz said. “So I think we do need new leadership. We need a culture change.”
Waltz enters a daunting international scene, with wars raging in Eastern Europe and the Middle East.