US President-elect Donald Trump has asked India caucus head and Florida Representative Mike Waltz to become his National Security Advisor. 50-year-old Waltz is a retired Army National Guard officer and war veteran.
He is likely to bring in a hawkish approach to national security, aligning closely with Trump's promises of strengthening American security, The Associated Press reported.
Being the first Green Beret elected to the US House, Mike Waltz has been the chairman of the House Armed Services subcommittee on readiness and a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee as well as the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
As the co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans, he has been an advocate for strong defence strategies concerning US-India relations and countering China.
Waltz has championed deepening of the India-US ties, especially in defence and security cooperation. He also played a key role in arranging Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech at the Capitol Hill during his 2023 US visit.
Due to his hawkish approach on China, Waltz called for a US boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics, citing Beijing's involvement in the origin of COVID-19 and alleged mistreatment of Uighur Muslims. He has also been a vocal critic of the outgoing Biden administration's decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, Kash Patel, a former Republican House staffer who has served in several high-ranking roles in the defence and intelligence communities during Trump's 2016 term, may be appointed as the CIA director.
Patel has frequently appeared on the campaign trail to support Trump. Any appointment requiring Senate confirmation could be a challenge as Patel has also been controversial throughout his career.
In an interview with Steve Bannon in 2023, Patel promised to "come after" politicians and journalists seen to be enemies of Trump.
During Trump's first term, more experienced national security officials criticised Patel as being volatile and too eager to please the then-president. Another contender for the post of CIA director is John Ratcliffe, a staunch Trump loyalsit.
Trump's allies see Ratcliffe as a hardcore Trump loyalist who can likely win the Senate confirmation. During his time as the director of national intelligence, Ratcliffe often contradicted the assessments of career civil servants, with the Democrats claiming that he politicised the role.