US President-elect Donald Trump has asked Florida Representative Mike Waltz, who heads the India Caucus, to be his National Security Advisor.
The 50-year-old is a retired Army National Guard officer and war veteran, and is expected to bring a hawkish approach to national security that aligns closely with Trump’s promises of strengthening American security.
Waltz, a three-term Republican representative from east-central Florida, was the first Green Beret elected to the US House, and was re-elected last week.
He has also been the chairman of the House Armed Services subcommittee on readiness and a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, news agency The Associated Press reported.
Waltz is a staunch advocate for strong defence strategies, especially concerning relations with India and countering China. He is a seasoned foreign policy expert and fervent proponent of a US-India alliance, and has championed deepening ties with India, particularly in defence and security cooperation.
Notably, as a co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional Caucus on India and Indian-Americans, he played a key role in arranging Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech at Capitol Hill during his visit to the US in 2023.
The Senate’s India Caucus is a bipartisan group currently comprising 40 members of the Senate. Founded in 2004 by the then New York senator and Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton and Senator John Cornyn, it is the largest Caucus of its kind in the Senate.
Waltz has been hawkish on China, and had called for a US boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, due to its involvement in the origin of Covid-19 and its alleged mistreatment of Uighur Muslims.
Waltz has been a vocal critic of the outgoing US President Joe Biden administration’s decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan.
His potential appointment could mark a shift toward a more assertive US stance on China and an even stronger partnership with India, an alliance Waltz has consistently argued is essential for regional stability and mutual economic and security benefits.
Known for his firm stance on China, Waltz has emphasised the need for strong alliances with democratic nations like India to bolster regional stability. He is expected to work closely with his Indian counterparts to solidify the US-India partnership, an alignment critical to Trump’s vision of challenging Beijing’s influence in the Indo-Pacific.
Waltz’s expertise and experience as a military veteran could translate into joint initiatives with India on defence, intelligence sharing, and a united stance on counter-terrorism, especially in Asia.
Waltz graduated from the Virginia Military Institute and served in the active-duty Army for four years before moving to the Florida Guard. He did multiple combat tours in Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa, as part of the Guard and was awarded four Bronze Stars.
Waltz also worked in the Pentagon as a policy adviser when Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates were defence chiefs.