President-elect Donald Trump has asked Rep. Mike Waltz of Florida to serve as his national security adviser, according to a source familiar.
In the role, Waltz would have to navigate a number of geopolitical conflicts that Trump’s administration will assume as part of his second term, including the Ukraine-Russia and Israel-Hamas wars.
Waltz, a Trump loyalist, is a combat-decorated Green Beret who served in Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa. He would be the first former Green Beret to hold the role.
The offer from Trump, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, comes as the president-elect looks to fill high-powered roles in his incoming administration – from ‘border czar’ to EPA administrator and UN ambassador to attorney general – to enact his agenda.
The congressman would step into a position that hasn’t always resulted in the warmest relationships with Trump. The former president had fallings out with two of the men to previously hold the role: John Bolton and Retired Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, who have publicly criticized their former boss.
Those relationships have informed Trump’s choice this go-around, as he looks to reward those who have stood by him over the past two years and regret lingers over some of the top aides and Cabinet officials during his first term who tried to thwart his often-impulsive demands and desires.
The former president has suggested his national security team would be tasked with reassessing the United States’ posture toward Ukraine, Russia, the conflict in the Middle East, China and Iran.
Waltz’s selection may be seen as a blow in the debate over a renewed Trump “America First” agenda that’s pitting his party’s national security hawks against its isolationist wing. A former Bush White House policy staffer, Waltz would likely take on a foreign policy stance more akin to Trump’s former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Asked by CNN’s Jack Tapper on “The Lead” last week about Trump’s immigration promises, Waltz pointed to immigrants in the wake of America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan.
“The most upset immigrant I’ve ever talked to is one that came legally, waited years, did everything they were supposed to, and then just watch a government — especially the Biden-Harris administration — turn a blind eye, as those — as they just break the law and skip the line,” he said. “And first and foremost is, of those that are upset, are the Afghans who are left behind, who were willing to fight and die with us and are still stuck over there.”
Asked whether he had talked with Trump about Afghans looking to enter the country, Waltz responded he had “quite some time ago, in the wake of the Afghanistan withdrawal, we talked about it.”
“Look again, it’s going to be about securing the border. It’s going to be about stopping the inflow, getting the worst of the worst out,” Waltz said.
“And then when we talk about these broader issues, especially, he was incredibly sympathetic to people literally falling off planes, they were so desperate to get out. And he certainly was sympathetic to those who are willing to fight and die for our soldiers.”
This story has been updated with additional details.
