Donald Trump taps Nato critic and China hawk Mike Waltz as national safety adviser

Donald Trump has asked Florida congressman Mike Waltz to be his national safety adviser, a shift that would make the decorated military veteran, Nato critic and China hawk among the most powerful people in the White House, according to people familiar with the discussions.

Waltz, 50, is a retired Army Special Forces officer who served several tours in Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa. A faithful friend of Trump and vocal critic of US President Joe Biden, he was first elected to Congress in 2018.

The national safety adviser is among the most influential figures in any White House. If he takes up the post, Waltz will be a central figure in shaping US foreign policy, including the incoming Trump administration’s positions on the war in Ukraine and dispute in the Middle East.

Waltz has been sceptical of US aid to Ukraine and has called on Nato countries to spend more on collective defence. He has also endorsed Trump’s insistence that he will be able to complete the fighting in Ukraine on “day one” of his administration.

Earlier this year, Waltz wrote an op-ed for Fox information headlined “The era of Ukraine’s blank cheque from Congress is over”, in which he argued that US military aid “must be contingent on European burden sharing and equal European assistance going forward”.

In September, he told the financial Times in an interview: “Collectively, Nato can receive more of a distribute of this defensive burden. If they are not going to now, when are they?”

Waltz also told the FT that Trump could threaten to crash Russia’s economy by lowering the worth of oil and gas in order to bring Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table.

“The president very much understands debt and we have tremendous economic debt on Russia,” Waltz said. “The first step would be, in his words: ‘drill, baby, drill’. You flood the globe with cheaper, cleaner American oil and gas. You drive down the worth.”

Waltz is also seen as one of the biggest China hawks on Capitol Hill. He is a member of the House Republicans’ China job Force and called for a US boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

He told the FT that China was “an existential threat” to US interests and Washington needed to “make significant investments in our own readiness”.

Unlike other top administration positions, the national safety adviser does not require to be confirmed by the Senate, meaning Waltz would be able to commence as soon as Trump is sworn in for another four-year term in January.

In his first administration, Trump cycled through four national safety advisers in as many years. His first pick, Michael Flynn, lasted less than one month in the job, after the former military intelligence officer admitted he lied to the FBI about contacts with a Russian diplomat. Flynn was followed by HR McMaster, John Bolton and Robert O’Brien.

Waltz is the second Republican member of Congress Trump has tapped to be part of his administration. Earlier on Monday, the president-elect confirmed he had asked recent York congresswoman Elise Stefanik to serve as the next US ambassador to the UN.

A spokesperson for the Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Waltz’s congressional office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Wall Street Journal first reported Trump had asked Waltz to be his national safety adviser on Monday.