Donald Trump confirmed that Mike Waltz will be his national security advisor. “He will be an incredible advocate for our pursuit of peace through strength!” – he wrote about it in a statement.
The future American president recalled that the congressman from Florida was the first “green beret” in Congress and is an “expert on the threats posed by China, Russia, Iran and global terrorism.” He also noted that he is a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee on Armed Services and Intelligence in the House of Representatives. “Mike has been a strong advocate of my America First Foreign Policy agenda and will be an incredible advocate for our pursuit of peace through strength!” – Trump wrote in a statement.
The media reported on Waltz's hiring for a key role in US foreign policy on Monday. According to reports, Trump was also supposed to choose Senator Marc Rubio as the future Secretary of State, but the future president did not confirm this choice.
“Hawk” of foreign policy
50-year-old Waltz is a retired colonel of the “green berets”, special forces of the US Army. Since 2018, he has served in the House of Representatives as a deputy from Florida. During the election campaign, he was one of Trump's main defenders and advocates on matters relating to security in television programs. The politician will take on one of the most important roles in the White House, next to the Secretary of State.
MikeWaltzCaroline Brehman/EPA/PAP
Waltz was seen as a policy hawk Russia, China and Iran. In recent years he has supported relief packages for Ukrainehowever, the situation has changed in the last year. In a recent interview on NPR radio, he claimed that Trump's expressed desire for a quick end war in Ukraine is rational. He argued that the president-elect could force Vladimir Putin negotiable. As he explained, he could introduce sanctions on Russian oil and lift restrictions on Kiev's use of long-range weapons.
Waltz: Russia is a gas station
– Russia is basically a gas station with nuclear weapons – said the politician just before the elections. – Putin now sells more oil and gas than before the war through China and Russia. And if we add the release of our energy and the lifting of the LNG ban, its economy and its war machine will dry up very quickly, he said. Additionally, he also announced the imposition of sanctions on Beijing's companies purchasing Russian oil.
The Florida congressman praised Trump's approach NATO. He supported his demands that European countries increase their defense spending. “The United States must make clear that it is time for our allies to invest in their own security,” Waltz wrote in a text before the NATO summit in Washington. “Military alliances are based on trust and reciprocity. Highlighting the lack of investment from our allies is not provocative, it allows us to fight for American taxpayers who have been footing the bill for too long,” he noted.
Waltz is the second active congressman elected to serve in the new administration. As House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Tuesday, he does not expect Trump to choose any more congressmen. He argued that the president-elect “understands the math in the House” and the slim, few-vote majority that Republicans will have in the next Congress.
Main photo source: Caroline Brehman/EPA/PAP