President-elect Donald Trump has named Rep. Mike Waltz of Florida to serve as his national security adviser. As national security adviser, Waltz will play an integral role in shaping U.S. policy on geopolitical conflicts ranging from the war in Ukraine to the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. The position is not a cabinet-level role, and thus would not require Senate confirmation.
Waltz, a former Army Green Beret, is a longtime Trump ally who has established himself as a leading critic of China in Congress. Since winning his seat in 2018, he has championed legislation to reduce U.S. reliance on critical minerals from China and safeguard American colleges and universities from Chinese espionage.
A third-term congressman, Waltz comes to the role after having served on the House committees that cover the military intelligence agencies and foreign affairs. He has also served on the House task force looking into the assassination attempts against Trump during the 2024 campaign. In an interview with NPR ahead of the election last week, Waltz said he believed it was “perfectly reasonable” that the war in Ukraine could end with “some type of diplomatic resolution.”
Waltz, 50, suggested the U.S. would have leverage over Russian President Vladimir Putin in any potential negotiations by both enforcing energy sanctions and ramping up U.S. energy exports. “His economy and his war machine will dry up very quickly,” Waltz said. “I think that will get Putin to the table,” he added. “We have leverage, like taking the handcuffs off of the long-range weapons we provided Ukraine as well.”
Waltz rise to the national security adviser post could also usher in a new chapter in the relationship between the Pentagon and Silicon Valley. Speaking to NPR after the election, Waltz said the nation needed “a culture change in how we approach our defense establishment, on how we buy things within the Pentagon.” “There is a whole slew of new technologies from Silicon Valley and elsewhere that are really chomping at the bit to help with our defense and security issues, and they can’t break through the bureaucracy,” Waltz said. “So I think we do need new leadership. We need a culture change.”
Before being elected to Congress, Waltz served for 27 years in the Army and National Guard, with multiple combat tours in Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa
https://www.npr.org/2024/11/11/nx-s1-5187098/trump-national-security-adviser-mike-waltz
Comment: I’m pleased with Trump’s choice for National Security Advisor. Both he and Susie Wiles, the incoming White house Chief of Staff, have reputations as serious, competent individuals who will be very close to Trump… and seem to enjoy his trust. Waltz’s views will not be ignored. Waltz has been critical of the Biden Administration’s current policy toward Ukraine. I think we share the view that escalation management has been a failure. He voiced strong support for Ukraine back in 2022.
“In an interview with The News-Journal on Thursday and with other media outlets since Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s address to Congress a day earlier, Waltz has been making the case that the United States should support Poland supplying its neighbor with MiG-29 fighter planes to counter Russia’s aerial assault on Ukraine’s cities and civilians. “Send the damn MiGs,” Waltz tweeted on Wednesday. “
“We must unite our NATO and other European partners around the policy of continuing to support Ukraine’s defenders. We must continue the flow of food, medical supplies, small armaments, stinger missiles, night vision, secure communications, body armor, and deployable radar systems to stall Russian armor in the cities and cut off their supply lines.”
“Ukraine has shown the world freedom from the evils of authoritarianism is worth fighting for. As you watch ordinary citizens attacks tanks with Molotov cocktails, they’ve shown the world they will die for their homeland. Insurgencies can last for years and the world must stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Ukraine for the long haul.”
That last quote was spoken like a true Green Beret. He’s kept this pro-Ukrainian stance to this day. And as the article said, he realizes that this war will eventually end through negotiations, but feels Ukraine should negotiate from a position of strength and strong support from NATO and the US. Putin may not get a free ride, especially given some of the comments coming out of the Kremlin. I thought Putin knew how to handle Trump’s ego. Like Trump, Waltz is highly critical of NATO’s unwillingness to pay for their own defense. Given Russia’s invasion, that may not be as hard a sell as it was the last time around. Besides, the EU should be quite amenable to doing what they must to avoid getting caught up in the coming tariff wars.
Oh yes, he’s also ready to bring pure scunion down on China.
TTG
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/12/trump-builds-hawkish-team-marco-rubio-mike-waltz
“Insurgencies can last for years and the world must stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Ukraine for the long haul.”
War, war, war war war war. Just what we voted for! Hooray! Billions for Ukraine for years and years. Well, maybe not.
” In an interview with NPR …”
Well, let’s check the information as well as the source of the information.
” He has also been skeptical of giving more aid to Ukraine as it fights Russia’s invasion.”
Did anyone miss that part of the NPR report? It doesn’t quite match the rest of what NPR put out. I loved the ‘leverage’ part of sanctions. How’s that doing for our allies in Europe? Mr. Waltz figure that part of German de-industrialization and collapse of government yet? Does he support banning AfD also? (Or France jailing LePen and prohibiting the leading candidate in French elections from running in 2027?) Maybe he needs to consult with his wife the former advisor to Trump.
“Nearly $70 billion of external state and state-guaranteed debt – or almost two thirds in that category – is owed to multilaterals, and – the same as domestic debt – it is not in scope for the restructuring. Of that, just over $16 billion is owed to the International Monetary Fund….” (Reuters, link below).
So the IMF debt is to be paid in full – “not restructured”. Which other debt holders? With American money of course. Trump is going to be ‘advised’ that bailing out everyone with US money is a great national security idea? Well, it’s not like he will run for reelection in 2028 so why not a complete the Obama/Biden/Harris policy. Just like the neocons wanted “from day one”.
https://www.reuters.com/world/how-much-money-does-ukraine-owe-whom-2024-06-13/
I have a feeling NPR put out the hopium piece by cobbling together the usual statements from the usual suspects. There’s approaching zero interest in his base to bail out Zelensky’s bond holders, or expand a war in Eastern Europe amongst his voting base. But by all means keep rattling the saber and spending our posterity’s wealth.
Fred,
The last two quotes in my comment did not come from NPR. They were written by Waltz as a guest author for “fFlorida Politics” in March 2022.
https://floridapolitics.com/archives/503086-michael-waltz-ukraine-vs-russia-heres-how-volodymyr-zelenskiy-and-his-country-win/
TTG,
Did you see the pending collapse of the German government, the outlawing of the political opposition – which is winning elections – or the proposal to jail the leading candidate for election in France?
Fred,
Good. The current German government hasn’t done Germany any favors and fully ascribed to the Biden administration’s policy of escalation management. That hasn’t done Ukraine much good. The probable successor to Scholz sounds a lot better to me. Even Le Pen is expecting to be convicted at her trial for embezzlement. She may end up in jail as well as being barred from running for office.
Tulsi! Tulsi! Tulsi!
Tulsi has been picked for Director of National Intelligence.
Gaetz, Tulsi….how many more will be emerging from Trump’s clown car at the DC circus?
Al Bot,
You should recall that Col Lang thought Tulsi to be both a “goddess” and an excellent POTUS. He said he would vote for her if she got through the primaries.
Gaetz has been smeared by kangaroo system for allegedly dating a 17 year old – same system that has gay dept heads pretending he and his “husband” had a baby, ugly guys in dresses and high heals. We spent $trillions so Iraq could lower the age of consent for girls to 10 years old. 17 is legal in many states in the US – assuming Gaetz even did that, which is a huge assumption.
The continuing lefty/fascist/MIC/deep state (all the same thing even if the adherents won’t admit it) melt downs here and elsewhere are deliciously entertaining. I recommend professional therapy, supported by pharmaceuticals, b/c it is going to be a long and emotionally challenging road for those who equate the status quo unquestionable bureaucracy/technocracy with “democracy”.
On the other hand, don’t seek help. Your angst is too entertaining.
Eric Newhill,
I also thought Tulsi would be a good POTUS. I still do. She’s anti-interventionist, but she’s also anti-jihadi. She’s extremely pro-Modi, but I have no idea what she thinks about China and Taiwan. And she’s a surfer. I don’t see her as a Russian mole as some suggest. Unless she says some crazy shit in her confirmation hearing, I’d support her as DNI. It would be a good place to learn things that would make her less susceptible to conspiracy theories.
Gaetz is a pedo creep. He showed photos of his Lolita conquests in the House of Representatives before his fellow Representatives let him know they didn’t approve of or appreciate that crap. He resigned yesterday just days before the House investigation was going to be released. If he sticks around for his confirmation hearings, we’ll probably all hear about the results of the investigation.
TTG,
I don’t care for Gaetz myself. I just plain don’t like his type, but I have no idea whether or not the pedo accusations are any more substantiated than the alleged Trump comments about veterans being suckers. I don’t believe a damn thing any of these damn people say. None of them level on the line, regardless of years of service, chest bling, degrees, Bibles waving, furrowed brows vouching for their integrity, babies being kissed (or bitten), etc, etc. My attitude is show me the indisputable evidence or bung up.
I lean toward liking Tulsi in the DNI role, but reserve a healthy amount of distrust. Give her the job and then retain based on a solidly objective annual FITREP.
Eric –
Gaetz won’t be confirmed. Even Fox News concurs that Gaetz is a putz:
https://x.com/eyeslasho/status/1857139821958877227
leith,
As TTG said, Matt Gaetz is a pedo creep. But TTG was slightly wrong about Gaetz’s Lolita “conquests”. Gaetz paid for underage prostitutes. It’s his thing.
But TTG! The practicalities! They simply don’t add up.
Waltz should know that, for all the posturing. What is Trump doing anyway, putting a standard issue neocon in that position? Maybe doing a Bolton? Bad cop Waltz so he can do the good cop?
Have to wait and see. I had thought Trump was of the opinion that this war is a bust.
So it is. The Russians have good enough Intel to attack Ukrainian arms factories, energy facilities, supply dumps, and gatherings of troops anywhere within the country. There’s little Ukrainian AD left so it’s now merely a question of the Russians choosing the most effective targets.
That’s now getting down to the micro level. The Ukrainians have drone workshops in civilian buildings. The Russians have an Intel network within Ukraine that enables them to identify those: the population mix is such that many Ukrainians are actively working for the resistance and can give the Russians real time information. If the Russians don’t get the targeting information that way they get it another. However they get it, even the little drone workshops in the basements or apartments of civilian buildings can get attacked and destroyed.
Same goes for equipment the Ukrainians store in civilian buildings. Same goes for troop concentrations or military conferences in civilian buildings, hotels and the like. That’s especially the case where our mercs or advisers are gathered. They stick out like a sore thumb because they speak in English or Polish or whatever so all around know they’re there. That Intel goes to the Russians and then it’s the missile.
For the Russians it’s open season on any military or dual use facilities anywhere in Ukraine. If Waltz doesn’t know that someone should tell him and stop him making a fool of himself.
…………………………….
Then this. “Insurgencies can last for years and the world must stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Ukraine for the long haul.”
There speaks the true neocon. Dead from the neck up and the attention span of a hen. He’s assuming the Russians will have to occupy remnant Ukraine – that’s mostly the more western part of the country – in order to stop the drone and missile attacks out of Ukraine.
So Waltz is cheerfully condemning the western Ukrainians to – he hopes – years of messy and brutal insurgency. Cheering every time a Russian soldier gets knifed in the back – we’ve already seen instances of that because that population mix works both ways. Cheering every time someone gets an RPG out from where it’s hidden in the barn and attacks a Russian convoy with it. And of course Ukraine is littered with explosives so plenty of scope for bomb exploits to cheer on as well.
And since the pro-Russian resistance in Ukraine is everywhere, even as far west as Lvov, there’d be informers all over the place telling the secret police who to go for.
It’d be a hell on earth ten times worse that Northern Ireland, and that, from a military point of view as well as a political and PR point of view, was itself messy as hell. And the Nationalist and Loyalist terrorists in Northern Ireland were pussycats compared to such as Budanov or Yermak when it comes to internecine warfare. That’s what Waltz is wishing on our proxies.
The man’s a fool. That’s exactly the scenario we were hoping the Russians would get themselves tangled up in in February 2022. Partisan warfare. The hope back then was that Ukraine would turn into “Russia’s Afghanistan”. The Russians sidestepped that scenario in 2022 and left us flat footed. Does he think they won’t again?
That’s aside from the fact that the ultras or neo-Nazis, that would have been the backbone of any partisan resistance, will be dead or will have cleared out to Poland or Germany. They are not going to stick around to face the war crimes trials or the gulags. Waltz is living in chickenhawk fantasy land if he thinks otherwise.
Chickenhawk, like all the neocons, because he’d never have the guts to put American lives on the line in any quantity to defeat the Russians. Just throw the proxies at the enemy, as per usual. The body bags don’t matter, as long as they’re not coming home to the States. This isn’t “true Green Beret” thinking. This is psycho thinking.
…………………………….
More dumb talk. “We have leverage, like taking the handcuffs off of the long-range weapons we provided Ukraine as well.”
The Pentagon’s OK with that? Thought they wanted to preserve what they have in that line for the ME or China. I doubt the Europeans are OK with it. Scholz has been warned off supplying Taurus, though the more hawkish Russian generals would like it if he did. They have enough of the fancy missiles to spare a few for Rheinmetall.
The Europeans are as chickenhawk as Waltz. They have no intention of allowing their own countries to become a war zone. As with Waltz, big talk is their metier.
It’s all they’re good for. We’re no longer living in the ’60’s or ’70’s. Well, we are in our minds, and that’s where we go wrong, but not in reality. Even RUSI gets that. The reality is that the Americans don’t have the men or equipment to fight the Russians in Ukraine, by proxy or directly. The Europeans never did. The Ukrainians, for all the heroism we’re seeing from them even now, have run out of both.
There’s been no real attempt to gear up Western war production and force numbers over the last three years. This has been a phoney war from the start and remains so. Much of what the Ukrainians have been given is old stock and we’re running out of that. The newer equipment we give them has turned out to be inferior.
For the neocons this was never a serious war. A country of one hundred and fifty million has therefore defeated more than a billion. That’s why the Americans have been walking away from this war almost from the start. Waltz must know it’s too late now to remedy that. Negotiate with the Russians from a position of strength? The only strength we have to negotiate from is in the chickenhawk’s imagination. It’s not there in reality.
It’s time both the American and the European neocons got to grips with the fact that when it comes to putting real money on the table, economically and militarily speaking they don’t have any. Gamblers with empty pockets and they’ve been called.
And though I don’t at all approve of the use we put the Ukrainians to, and think it was dumb fighting the Russians like this, I cannot but feel a sense of shame at what we’ve done. The Ukrainian regulars have fought like wild cats. It was a devil’s bargain they struck with us but those regulars carried out their part in full. And as usual we’ve cut and run.
Those regulars didn’t. And they now know that such as Waltz have taken them for a ride and dumped them, for all his silly talk. Was this not what the Colonel feared?
EO,
Do you beat your shoe on the table when you write these Kremlin-inspired diatribes? That you don’t approve of Waltz’s stance on Ukraine is fine. That you don’t want war to continue is also fine, even commendable. But you have never been that bothered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or Russian brutality against the Ukrainian people. I’m deeply saddened by that because I like you. Do you disparage Churchill because he chose to resist Hitler? He could have sought accommodation with Hitler and saved a lot of blood, sweat and tears. He did not and did the Western world a great favor in doing so.
Both Russia and Ukraine have endured far more death and destruction than what they have so far endured and survived. The Ukrainians will continue to resist. The Ukrainians ability to produce world class drones and even their own self-propelled howitzers after three years of war means they are far from defeated. They are far from drafting children for combat. They have only just begun drafting draft-age men and forming new brigades. You may dearly desire they surrender to Russia, but they won’t. That is true “Green Beret” thinking. Our motto is De Oppresso Liber. It’s an imperative to free the oppressed.
You call Waltz a chickenhawk. He’s a twenty something year veteran of both active and National Guard Special Forces assignments. He had multiple tours in Afghanistan and was awarded four bronze stars, two of which were for valor. You don’t know what you’re talking about with this chickenhawk talk.
TTG,
You wrote:
“Do you beat your shoe on the table when you write these Kremlin-inspired diatribes?”
I continue to be at odds with you over Ukraine but even I have to admit that was pretty funny.
James – if you’re the two- faced Canadian who says one thing on this site and quite another on Moon of Alabama, take a hike.
On second thoughts, take a hike anyway.
Calm down EO. Not like you to insult others here.
James,
TTG made me chuckle with that one too.
So what’s changed, TTG? Looking around and thinking for myself did not make me a Kremlin troll on Colonel Lang’s old site. Why now?
EO,
Didn’t Colonel Lang give you the boot for your support of Russia’s invasion? I won’t do that. And I don’t consider you a Russian troll, just horribly misguided in your views on Russia and her invasion of Ukraine.
TTG – very interesting take on the Trump appointments from an Englishman I’ve mentioned before, Alexander Mercouris. Just listening to it.
He reckons the Trump appointments are entirely directed at assisting Trump in his efforts to break the power of the entrenched Washington bureaucracy. Plus of course the Democrat and RINO politicians who are embedded in the old system and the think tanks and academics who are similarly embedded.
Mercouris doesn’t use the term but this is Trump draining the swamp. Or trying to – I don’t think Mercouris gives much for his chances.
If Mercouris is right – he’s pretty astute – then what we are witnessing is an unprecedented attempt to break the power of the corrupt and ossified ancien regime in Washington.
Such attempts never usually succeed. As Stolypin found out, reform of an unsatisfactory system rarely works. In fact the only example I can think of is the series of civil service and military reforms in England from around the middle of the nineteenth century and those, though successful, scarcely constituted a root and branch reform of the sort Trump’s aiming for.
While these efforts are in progress, however, there’s the question of Trump’s foreign policy hanging in the air.
Long term, Trump’s irrelevant there as far as the two foreign policy issues that are urgent go. There’s nothing much the Trump administration can do to impede Russian intentions in Ukraine – the famous “demilitarisation and denazification” they’re so set on – any more than the Biden administration could.
So too in Israel. Unless Trump takes his country to war in the ME, open and declared war, events there will play out much as they would have played out under Biden.
Except. This final stage of the Ukrainian war is leading to quite appalling casualties. The genocide in the ME is not only a tragedy for those suffering. It is ineradicable stain on Western civilisation and future generations will look back in horror at what we supported and often encouraged.
Trump’s Presidency will be judged not by the success of his internal reforms. It will be judged by the extent to which he managed, even before his inauguration, to bring these horrors to an end.
EO –
Waltz a Chickenhawk? No way.
The true chickenhawk when it comes to Ukraine is the Gay Hussar, Putin.
And the chickenhawk squawking about Iran is Bone Spurs Trump.
Leith – maybe I was going too far. Apologies if so. But the deal was with Trump, he was supposed to wrap this Ukrainian war up.
And if you lived in England you’d have had your fill of chickenhawks too. The English political scene is crawling with them. Swaggering around the world as if they owned the damn place. Neglecting UK defence for decades and then pretending we’ve still got one. That’d rile you up if you lived here. I does me.
“It does me”. Typed too fast.
” Waltz, 50, suggested the U.S. would have leverage over Russian President Vladimir Putin in any potential negotiations by both enforcing energy sanctions and ramping up U.S. energy exports.”
Delusional, to stay polite.
Delusional, but it does point to the (only?) real winners from the war in Ukraine: US Oil & Gas Corps. Destroying Nordstream was quite a boon to US LNG exports, increasing both the quantity and the price.
I’ve long assumed that the NeoCons were largely funded by AIPAC (based on their choice of targets), and that they seduced Dick Cheney with (insincere) promises of control of Iraqi (and eventually Iranian) resources. But perhaps that unholy alliance (AIPAC + Oil Corps) is more balanced than I imagined.
elkern,
I doubt Cheney needed seduction. He was chairman of the board of Halliburton.
never stumbled across scunion, but guessed it must be army slang, you may have heard it from veterans that shaped you. Maybe?
*scunion [skuhn-yuhn]: A term used in the late 1960s during the Vietnam War to signal inflicting distress, injury, or destruction, as in bring scunion. “Those gunships brought scunion on that ‘ville!”
What happened to our dear F&L, here’s hoping he is well, just bored with us 😉
Lea,
Yes, it’s an old Army term that I heard a lot in my youth.
I was just thinking about F&L last night. I also hope he’s well and we see him again soon.
Waltz may be better than some of the others nominated, but the question will remain whether Trump will listen to him. There were qualified people in his first term, but none lasted long. While the ongoing wars demand serious attention, which may not be available, it is what is brewing on the economic front that could do some serious damage. One aspect is the growing debt and if Trump gets his way and start round up people and impose tariffs, the results will arrive a lot sooner.
As I am fond to say: For every complex problem, there is a simple and wrong solution. I suspect this ship of fools will go for the easy stuff and ignore the important stuff as they only apply ideology to the problem.
Lars, Well stated!
Also, knowing Trump’s troubled history, he will likely be more in need of protecting himself from his own further blunders….then in his role of “protector of women”, etc.
Al, Lars,
Did you see the stock prices of Big Pharma? Dropping faster than a Ukrainian government bond. Don’t forget to get your covid booster, whichever # that is. On a positive note media stocks will be getting millions for the pharma campaign sure to be unleashed.
If anyone is tired of conflicts in Eastern Europe,
here is something else that might be of interest:
https://mace.house.gov/immaculateconstellation
More reporting out today that RFK Jr has fully “wormed” his way into Trump’s skull for HHS Sec.
Trump’s circus clown car continues to unload!
Al –
If Mr Roadkill gets confirmed for HHS, buy some stock in Iron Lungs, Funeral Homes, and child casket manufacturers.
“Circus clown car”? I don’t think so.
I don’t believe you understand the urgency of the present moment. Blind chance has thrown up a President who seeks to remedy the deplorable condition of your country. That is a titanic enterprise and one by no means assured of success. Maybe only the man who stood defiant on the stage in Butler County could attempt it.
Would you seek to frustrate that enterprise a second time? Should you not recognise that this time round the Trump Presidency is an opportunity to be grasped? Like it or not, you’ll get no other.
The international standing of the United States has never been lower. Its diplomats are incompetent and Congress no more than a gang of thieves sharing out the booty. Senior officials devote their time to Byzantine palace intrigues and its sprawling Intelligence apparatus is worse than ineffectual. It is quite out of control and viciously so.
Its otiose military is merely a profit centre for the lobbyists and is now regarded with ridicule rather than respect. Fit only to terrorise the weak and helpless and as the world is now seeing, all hat and no cattle when called upon to do more. Its economy does not serve its people, only its parasites, and is fast following the European economy down.
You live in a country that has become little more than a freak show with nukes and is regarded as such by all in the international community outside its satellites. And those satellites themselves tumbling into ruin.
Those who wish to see the United States regain its prosperity and its standing, and I count myself amongst that number not only for your sake but for the sake of the West, can only hope that Trump, will succeed in that great enterprise.
You dismiss his nominees as a “circus clown car” but fail to ask yourself why the vast official and political apparatus of your country, that costs so much and does so little of worth, can provide few others. Few, that is, who would not obstruct rather than serve this last ditch attempt to turn your country round.
otiose! Never heard of it before today. But it sounds kind of like the Russian Army. They depend on NoKo troops, Wagner mercs recruited by emptying the prisons, forcibly conscripted Tajiks or Kyrgyz and other central Asian workers, and they’re now recruiting Cubans and Africans. But what else would you expect with their Gay Hussar as CinC.
Or the British Army. You guys use your former colonies to do your fighting for you. Or Hessians!
I see Epstein’s clients are still being protected. But the guy who promised to restrucure the holder of all the incriminating Epstein information is the target of a ‘nuts and sluts’ campaign. No coincidence. None at all.
I feel unburdened by what could have been.
What happened?
Yesterday, 17 November, was ‘Sergeant’s Day‘ in Ukraine.
https://x.com/TDF_UA/status/1858409657456349647
https://x.com/NOELreports/status/1858543463651770726