US President-elect Donald Trump officially named Florida Rep. Mike Waltz as his national security advisor on Tuesday, saying the Green Beret veteran will be a "tremendous" champion of his incoming administration's pursuit of "peace through strength."
Trump made the announcement a day after he was reported to have offered the White House advisor post to Waltz, a veteran who served 27 years in the US Army and National Guard with multiple combat tours in Afghanistan, the Middle East, and Africa.
His pick for the high-profile post comes as US allies and partners have been keenly watching the formation of Trump's security and foreign policy team for clues to how Trump would handle relations with US allies and partners and tackle regional and global security challenges. The national security advisor position does not require Senate confirmation.
"I am honored to announce that Congressman Mike Waltz (R-FL) is hereby appointed to serve in my Cabinet as my National Security Advisor," Trump said in a statement sent to reporters.
He added, "Mike has been a strong champion of my America First Foreign Policy agenda, and will be a tremendous champion of our pursuit of Peace through Strength!"
Waltz has been seen as a staunch supporter of Trump as he has aligned himself with the president-elect on key issues, including illegal immigration, the United States' support for Ukraine, and North Atlantic Treaty Organization members' contributions to collective defense.
When it comes to China, Waltz is known as one of the most hawkish congressional members. He called for a full US boycott of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and maintained a hard-line stance on human rights issues in China.
To compete against China in the maritime domain, Waltz has noted the need to cooperate with the shipbuilding industries of South Korea, Japan, and European allies. He made his position clear in an article contributed last year to RealClear Defense.
"We are in a race against time since China now has more than 200 times the shipbuilding capacity of the United States," he wrote in the article, titled "America Needs a National Maritime Strategy."
"Of course, we prefer all our ships be American built. But, in the race with our greatest adversary, we need a mix of US, Japanese, South Korean, and European-built ships in a Reagan-style build-up."
His thinking raised the prospects of the US seeking greater collaboration with the South Korean shipbuilding industry under a second Trump administration.
Waltz is expected to play an influential role in carrying out Trump's "America First" policy agenda that could put pressure on US allies and partners to do more for their security and reduce costly US involvement in overseas affairs.
He is the first Green Beret to be elected to Congress, and a former White House and Pentagon policy advisor.
Waltz graduated from the Virginia Military Institute and was awarded four Bronze Stars, including two for Valor for his service in combat. (Yonhap)
