India Caucus Chair Mike Waltz Picked As National Security Adviser

India-West News Desk

WASHINGTON, DC – President-elect Donald Trump has tapped Republican congressman Mike Waltz to be his national security adviser, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on November 11.

The retired Army Green Beret heads the congressional India caucus and is a leading critic of China. With Nikki Haley he once wrote an op-ed suggesting that America’s standing in the world could be enhanced by forming an alliance with India.

His wanting to stymie China with a tighter embrace of India is, according to media reports quoting analysts is being viewed warily as India prefers to seem free of Western and other influences and remain independent.

Waltz, a Trump loyalist who also served in the National Guard as a colonel, has criticized Chinese activity in the Asia-Pacific and has voiced the need for the United States to be ready for a potential conflict in the region.

Waltz has a long history in Washington’s political circles. He was a defense policy director for defense secretaries Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates and was elected to Congress in 2018. He is the chairman of the House Armed Services subcommittee overseeing military logistics and on the select committee on intelligence.

On Ukraine, Waltz has said his views have evolved. After Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, he called for the Biden administration to provide more weapons to Kyiv to help them push back Russian forces.

But during an event last month, Reuters reported Waltz said there had to be a reassessment of the United States’ aims in Ukraine. “Is it in America’s interest, are we going to put in the time, the treasure, the resources that we need in the Pacific right now badly?” Waltz asked.

Waltz has praised Trump for pushing NATO allies to spend more on defense, but unlike the president-elect has not suggested the United States pull out of the alliance.

“Look we can be allies and friends and have tough conversations,” Waltz said last month.

Waltz demonstrated his loyalty to Trump earlier this year when he appeared at Trump’s May 16 hush-money court hearing in Manhattan, one of only a handful of lawmakers to do so. (With input from Reuters)