WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump has chosen U.S. House Republican Rep. Mike Waltz as his national security adviser, making him the second GOP member of the House Trump has plucked from the lower house for his administration.
Trump announced in a statement Tuesday that Waltz, of Trump’s home state of Florida, is “hereby appointed to serve in my Cabinet,” an apparent expansion of the special group beyond its time-honored membership. The position does not require Senate consent.
“Mike has been a strong advocate of my America First foreign policy agenda and will be a tremendous advocate for our pursuit of peace through strength!” Trump said in a statement.
Waltz, the first U.S. Army Green Beret elected to Congress, served multiple combat missions in Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa as a special forces officer, according to his congressional biography.
Waltz also worked at the Pentagon as director of defense policy under Defense Secretaries Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates and as a White House adviser under President George W. Bush.
The three-term member of the House serves on the Armed Services and Foreign Affairs Committees and on the Select Committee on Intelligence.
House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana praised Waltz in a statement Tuesday as a “brilliant and faithful patriot” and “the ideal person to advise President Trump and defend our interests internationally.”
Waltz’s office did not immediately respond to States Newsroom for comment.
Trump’s selection of Waltz now means that two current House Republicans have been dragged out of the chamber as a party predicts a slim majority.
The president-elect announced Monday that he has chosen the chairman of the House Republican Conference Eliza Stefanikfrom New York to become its ambassador to the United Nations.
Former New York GOP representative Lee Zeldinwas elected administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Both positions to require Senate confirmation, although Trump mounts pressure campaign for the as-yet-unnamed Republican Senate Majority Leader to bypass the confirmation vote by allowing nominations to be made during the break.
The up-to-date ambassador went to Israel?
Trump also announced Tuesday that he wants former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to be his U.S. ambassador to Israel as the country continues its war campaigns on Palestinian territory in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.
“Mike was a great public servant, governor and faith leader for many years. He loves Israel and the nation of Israel, and likewise the nation of Israel loves him. Mike will work tirelessly to bring peace to the Middle East!” – Trump said in a statement.
Huckabee is the father of current Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who also worked as Trump’s press secretary during his first administration.
Senate confirmed Israel’s last ambassador to Israel, Jacob Lew, was chosen by Biden in behind schedule October 2023, just weeks after Hamas militants carried out a surprise attack on the country, killing about 1,200 people and taking 250 hostages.
Lew’s nomination was submitted to the Senate on September 28, 2023. The previous US ambassador, Thomas Nides, left this position in July 2023 for personal reasons, it says. Axles.
A special envoy to the Middle East was appointed
Trump also named Steve Witkoff, a New York real estate investor, friend and campaign donor, as his special envoy to the Middle East.
The president-elect praised Witkoff in an emailed statement to the press.
“Steve is a respected business and philanthropic leader who has made every project and community he has been involved in stronger and more prosperous. “Steve will be an unrelenting Voice for PEACE and will make us all proud,” Trump said.
Witkoff was with Trump the day he was threatened by a second gunman in September he said several media outlets on witnessing the US Secret Service protecting Trump at his Florida golf course when a gunman attacked him the rifle prodded through the bushes.
Witkoff attended Trump’s secret money trial in Manhattan and also attended a multi-donor fundraiser on Manhattan’s Upper East Side on May 31, the same day Trump was convicted of 34 state felonies for falsifying business records, According to ABC News.
Last updated: 17:35, November 12, 2024
