Who is Mike Waltz, Iran hawk to be named Trump national security adviser?
The former Green Beret and China hawk, who was praised by the president-elect during right-wing media appearances, may soon find himself tasked with contradictory and even illegal policy orders as Trump seeks to shake up Washington's approach to national security during his second term in office.
WASHINGTON — US President-elect Donald Trump is expected to tap Mike Waltz, Republican congressman from Florida and former Army Green Beret, to be his national security adviser, bringing a hawkish figure to the center of foreign policymaking at the White House.
US media outlets reported the news on Monday night and a statement is expected from the President-elect to confirm it. Waltz, who previously served as senior Pentagon policy official under the George W. Bush and Barak Obama administrations, is widely known on the Hill as a leading hawk on China, having spearheaded various initiatives to head off perceived advances by the People's Republic of China on US national security interests.
He is also seen as an Iran hawk, advocating for the military option to curb Iran's nuclear program. Waltz wrote in The Economist this month that America “should put a credible military option on the table to make clear to the Iranians that America would stop them building nuclear weapons.”
The congressman said the outgoing Biden administration made a mistake in restraining Israel in its Gaza war after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, adding, "Instead of renewing economic pressure and fully backing Israel’s military response to Iran and its terror proxies after the Oct. 7 attacks, the White House restrained Israel and the Pentagon due to overwrought fears of 'escalation.'"
