You may see Florida officials serving key cabinet posts in the Trump administration.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio may be chosen to serve as Secretary of State, and Team Trump has asked Northeast Florida Congressman and former Green Beret Mike Waltz to be Trump’s National Security Adviser.
If Waltz accepts the position, he won’t need Senate approval.
Before running for office in 2018, Waltz was a regular on Fox News as an analyst on foreign policy. Before then, he was in the U.S. Army and National Guard for 27 years, then decided to run for Congress, where he was elected. Waltz, a graduate of Ranger School, served in the Green Berets and the Special Forces during the second IRAG war and the war on terror in countries like Afghanistan and throughout the Middle East.
During the George W. Bush administration, Waltz worked as defense policy director in the Pentagon.
Waltz will enter his role amid prolonged conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. Trump is expected to try to prevent further escalation abroad by building deterrence against foreign rivals while favoring transactional policies with U.S. allies.
The Congressman has been a harsh critic of the Biden foreign policy including the departure from Afghanistan. “It was a complete cluster mess what Biden left over there,” said Waltz.
His new book, “Hard Truths: Think and Lead Like a Green Beret,” just came out in October. In it, the Congressman shares his stories of military service, politics, and business.
Waltz has called out the Biden administration for politicizing the ranks of the U.S. military with DEI initiatives and eroding merit.