Trump selects Mike Waltz as National Security Adviser
14 November 2024 2024-11-14 22:43Trump selects Mike Waltz as National Security Adviser
“…in 2021, Waltz was critical of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point for teaching critical race theory…”
By Phil Stewart, Steve Holland and Idrees Ali | Reuters
President-elect Donald Trump has picked Republican Representative Mike Waltz to be his national security adviser, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday, tapping a retired Army Green Beret who has been a leading critic of China.
Waltz, a Trump loyalist who also served in the National Guard as a colonel, has criticized Chinese activity in the Asia-Pacific and has voiced the need for the United States to be ready for a potential conflict in the region.
The national security adviser is a powerful role, which does not require Senate confirmation. Waltz will be responsible for briefing Trump on key national security issues and coordinating with different agencies.
While slamming the Biden administration for a disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, Waltz has publicly praised Trump’s foreign policy views.
“Disruptors are often not nice … frankly our national security establishment and certainly a lot of people that are dug into bad old habits in the Pentagon need that disruption,” Waltz said during an event earlier this year. “Donald Trump is that disruptor,” he said.
Waltz has a long history in Washington’s political circles. He was a defense policy director for defense secretaries Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates and was elected to Congress in 2018. He is the chairman of the House Armed Services subcommittee overseeing military logistics and also on the select committee on intelligence.
Waltz is also on the Republicans’ China Task Force and has argued the U.S. military is not as prepared as it needs to be if there is conflict in the Indo-Pacific region.
In a book published earlier this year titled “Hard Truths: Think and Lead Like a Green Beret,” Waltz laid out a five-part strategy to preventing war with China, including arming Taiwan faster, re-assuring allies in the Pacific, and modernizing planes and ships.
On Ukraine, Waltz has said his views have evolved. After Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, he called for the Biden administration to provide more weapons to Kyiv to help them push back Russian forces.
But during an event last month, Waltz said there had to be a reassessment of the United States’ aims in Ukraine.
“Is it in America’s interest, are we going to put in the time, the treasure, the resources that we need in the Pacific right now badly?” Waltz asked.
Waltz has praised Trump for pushing NATO allies to spend more on defense, but unlike the president-elect has not suggested the United States pull out of the alliance.
“Look we can be allies and friends and have tough conversations,” Waltz said last month.
Waltz demonstrated his loyalty to Trump earlier this year when he appeared at Trump’s May 16 hush-money court hearing in Manhattan, one of only a handful of lawmakers to do so.
WHAT IT MIGHT MEAN FOR THE MILITARY?
Waltz, who was in the running to be defense secretary, could rankle some in the uniformed ranks. As a congressman from Florida, he has been at the forefront of a conservative movement opposed to teaching certain theories about racism and has criticized military officials for it.
He has also lamented the Pentagon’s failure to fire generals and civilian bureaucrats who fail to perform.
“We need to get a culture of accountability into that place. No one ever seems to get fired, with these massive cost over-runs, massive waste,” Waltz told Fox News last week. “We don’t need managers there. We need reformers.”
Trump is expected to have a far darker view of his military leaders in his second term, after facing Pentagon resistance over everything from his skepticism toward NATO to his readiness to deploy troops to quell protests on U.S. streets.
He has criticized the military for being political under President Joe Biden’s administration.
In 2023, Waltz introduced an act in Congress that would have required an audit of “unnecessary and political DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) programs” in the military and “restore a merit-based culture to our ranks.”
During a tense congressional hearing with the top U.S. general in 2021, Waltz was critical of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point for teaching critical race theory, which maintains that legacies of slavery and segregation have created an uneven playing field for Black Americans.
Congressman Mike Waltz is a Colonel (Ret.) in the National Guard, a combat-decorated Green Beret, former White House and Pentagon policy advisor, a small business owner, an author, and a proud father. He is the first Green Beret to be elected to Congress. Mike has served his country his entire life. He graduated from the Virginia Military Institute with Honors and served 27 years in the U.S. Army and National Guard, retiring during his second term in Congress. After being commissioned as an Army lieutenant, Mike graduated Ranger School and was selected for the elite Green Berets, serving worldwide as a Special Forces officer with multiple combat tours in Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa. For his actions in combat, Mike was awarded four Bronze Stars, including two for Valor. . . . (read more)
See:
Waltz Presses U.S. Military Service Academy Superintendents on CRT
Congressman Waltz presses former West Point History instructor to define Equity
Waltz, Banks Press West Point on Preferred Pronoun Role Play Guide
West Point’s pronoun ‘play acting’ training exercise and CRT lecture
Lawmakers grill military academies on if they ‘condone’ DEI speakers’ controversial statements
The Military Should Reject DEI and CRT
By MG Patrick H. Brady, US Army (ret) and Congressman and Col. Michael Waltz, US Army
Defense Department ‘Drastically Shifted Off Course’
‘White Identity Is Inherently Racist’: Waltz Quotes CRT Readings Covered In Military Academies
Reps. Mike Waltz and Wesley Hunt warn military ‘woke’ politics negate ‘effectiveness and readiness’
Rep. Mike Waltz introduces bill to combat ‘woke’ military programs – including critical race theory
‘Wokeness,’ politicization of the military ‘alarming,’ warns Rep. Michael Waltz
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BIOGRAPHY
Congressman Mike Waltz is a Colonel (Ret.) in the National Guard, a combat-decorated Green Beret, former White House and Pentagon policy advisor, a small business owner, an author, and a proud father. He is the first Green Beret to be elected to Congress.
Mike was born in Boynton Beach, Florida and grew up in Jacksonville, Florida. He was raised by a hard-working single mother and is the son and grandson of Navy Chiefs.
Mike has served his country his entire life. He graduated from the Virginia Military Institute with Honors and served 27 years in the U.S. Army and National Guard, retiring during his second term in Congress. After being commissioned as an Army lieutenant, Mike graduated Ranger School and was selected for the elite Green Berets, serving worldwide as a Special Forces officer with multiple combat tours in Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa. For his actions in combat, Mike was awarded four Bronze Stars, including two for Valor.
During his time in Afghanistan, Mike led the teams searching for deserter Pvt. Bowe Berghdal. Mike was one of the first to publicly call into question then-President Obama’s labeling of Berghdal as a hero and has continued to lead the call for justice on behalf of all the service-members Berghdal’s desertion put in harm’s way.
Mike’s servant leadership continued in the White House, as well as the Pentagon, as a defense policy director for Secretaries of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates. He also advised the Bush Administration on policy he then carried out in the military.
His experiences as a soldier and a policy advisor inspired him to write the book, “Warrior Diplomat: A Green Beret’s Battles from Washington to Afghanistan,” the proceeds of which continue to benefit the Green Beret and Matthew Pucino Foundations. He also wrote a children’s book, “Dawn of the Brave,” a Christian children’s book that teaches children the importance of service.
Following his time in the White House, Mike built a small business to over 400 employees, which was repeatedly listed in the Inc. 500 index as one of the fastest-growing private companies in America.
A former Fox News Channel contributor, Mike, provides expert commentary on foreign policy, defense, and business issues to viewers around the world.
Mike is determined to be part of the new generation of leadership in Congress: Servant leaders who lead by example with their values and deliver results.
As the Chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness and member of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Mike has championed legislation to restore our military back to be merit-based and mission-focused.
Mike serves on the House China Task Force with 15 Republican lawmakers representing 14 committees of jurisdiction to coordinate policy on China. Mike sponsored legislation to reduce American reliance on Chinese critical minerals and pioneered legislation to secure American universities and academies from Chinese espionage.
As a Floridian, Mike has fought to help maintain Florida’s way of life, introducing legislation to help prevent harmful algae blooms and keep Florida’s water clean, and protect Florida’s farmers and growers. He is a strong advocate for school choice and a return to civics in education. He has also championed the growing space industry on Florida’s Space Coast and the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) programs at Florida’s universities.
His commitment in Washington, D.C. is the same now as it was in combat: To serve with everything he has, without regard for his own self and with a sense of duty.
Mike has a daughter in college and a baby boy. He is married to Dr. Julia Nesheiwat, a combat veteran who served in multiple presidential administrations, as well as most recently as Homeland Security Advisor to President Trump. They live in St. Johns County, Florida.
