US president-elect Donald Trump has picked Republican Representative Mike Waltz to be his national security adviser, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters yesterday, 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 region and has voiced the need for the US to be ready for a potential conflict in the region.
Photo: Reuters
The national security adviser is a powerful role, which does not require Senate confirmation.
Waltz would be responsible for briefing Trump on key national security issues and coordinating with different agencies.
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, reassuring allies in the Pacific and modernizing planes and ships.
Waltz has a long history in Washington's political circles.
He was a defense policy director for US defense secretaries Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates and was elected to Congress in 2018.
He is the chairman of the US House of Representatives 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 US military is not as prepared as it needs to be if there is conflict in the Indo-Pacific region.
On Ukraine, Waltz has said his views have evolved.
After Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, he called for the administration of US President Joe Biden to provide more weapons to Kyiv to help them push back Russian forces.
However, during an event last month, Waltz said there had to be a reassessment of the US' 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 US pull out of the alliance.
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