Trump taps Rep. Mike Waltz as his national security adviser

US President-elect Donald Trump has asked Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) to be his White House national security adviser, people familiar with the deliberations told The Wall Street Journal on Monday.

A source later confirmed to Fox News that Trump has been offered the role.

Waltz, a Green Beret veteran who served in Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa, was one of Trump's most visible surrogates during the 2024 campaign, helping spearhead military outreach and leading the Veterans For Trump coalition.

He has in the past served as a policy adviser to former Defense Secretaries Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates.

Waltz 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.

On the war in Ukraine, Waltz initially called for the Biden administration to provide more weapons to the Ukrainians to help them push back Russian forces, but during an event last month, Waltz called for a reassessment of the United States' aims in Ukraine.

In December of 2023, Waltz was a signatory to a letter written by US elected officials, as well as national security and military experts, who called for America to stand with Israel as it works to eradicate Hamas.

In 2022, Waltz was one of nearly 200 House Republicans who wrote to Biden warning that any nuclear deal made with Iran without Congress' approval "will meet the same fate" as the 2015 agreement.

More recently, after Israel eliminated Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, Waltz wrote in a post on X, “The mastermind of the Oct 7th massacre Yahya Sinwar spent a year hiding behind hostages and civilians like a coward. Now, he can join his partners in evil - Mohammed Deif, Haniyeh, and Nasrallah. Keep going Israel. We are with you.”

The national security adviser, a highly influential post appointed by the President that doesn’t require Senate confirmation, coordinates among all the top national security agencies and is tasked with briefing the president and executing his policies.