Donald Trump asks Rep. Mike Waltz to serve as national security adviser

WASHINGTON - President-elect Donald Trump has asked Florida congressman Mike Waltz to serve as his national security adviser, according to two sources familiar with his selection.

Waltz, 50, is set join the new administration as it navigates several tense geopolitical fights, including the Ukraine-Russia and Israel-Hamas wars. The role Trump asked Waltz to serve in does not require Senate confirmation.

The three-term lawmaker has been a member of the House Armed Services Committee, served in civilian roles at the Pentagon and is a decorated Green Beret combat veteran. He's also an outspoken critic of the Defense Department’s diversity programs.

In Congress, Waltz has demanded more defense spending from NATO allies and questioned the United States’ “blank check” for Ukraine in its war with Russia.

Sep 26, 2024; Washington, DC, USA; Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., speaks during a congressional task force hearing on the assassination attempt of former President Donald J. Trump in Butler, Pa. on July 13, 2024.
Sep 26, 2024; Washington, DC, USA; Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., speaks during a congressional task force hearing on the assassination attempt of former President Donald J. Trump in Butler, Pa. on July 13, 2024.

A Florida native, he graduated from the Virginia Military Institute, commissioned as an Army officer, became a Green Beret, deployed several times to combat zones in the Middle East and Afghanistan and served 27 years in the Army and National Guard. He was awarded four Bronze Stars, two for valor.

Waltz led search missions in Afghanistan for Pvt. Bowe Bergdahl, who had deserted his post. Waltz criticized the Obama administration for treating Bergdahl’s release from the Taliban as a cause for celebration.

On the Armed Services Committee, Waltz blasted Pentagon personnel policies under the Biden administration that he termed “woke,” a term used derisively by some conservatives to describe programs that promote a progressive agenda.

In an early 2023 interview after Republicans took control of the House, Waltz pointed to complaints he’d received from the family of a West Point Cadet about a course titled, “understanding your whiteness and white rage.”

Waltz termed the course “incredibly divisive” and said that it had no place in the Army. West Point, in a statement, denied having taught such a course.

Waltz also derided Pentagon efforts under Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to root extremists from the ranks. Austin had made that one of his top priorities after the Jan. 6 insurrection and the involvement of several military veterans.

Florida voters re-elected Waltz to a fourth term last week. Along with New York GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik, he's one of two incumbent lawmakers set to join the incoming Trump administration and where the House would be down two Republicans while waiting for voters to pick replacements in special elections. Trump earlier on Monday said he plans to nominate Stefanik to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

(This story has been updated with more information.)

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump asks Mike Waltz to serve as US national security adviser