Stephen K. Bannon, a prominent ally of President Trump, hosted a gathering in January at his townhouse on Capitol Hill for Matt Boyle, the Washington bureau chief of Breitbart News. The event saw the usual figures from the right-wing media landscape in attendance, but one guest caught everyone’s attention: Michael Waltz, the national security adviser to Mr. Trump.
Mr. Waltz, who posed for photos with Mr. Bannon, Mr. Boyle, and others, was invited as part of an initiative to enhance his standing in an administration that was just days old. He found himself in a dilemma faced by many aides from Trump’s previous term: regarded as too aligned with Trump by former Republican allies yet not sufficiently loyal in the eyes of the president’s core supporters.
While Mr. Waltz has been involved in cease-fire discussions between Ukraine and Russia, there are concerns among some close to Mr. Trump regarding his position, with speculations that he may be one of the early casualties of this administration. Others argue that his commitment to aligning with Mr. Trump will help him avoid the fate of three of the four national security advisers from the previous term.
“Mike understands the hierarchy, which gives him an advantage over H.R. McMaster and John Bolton, who were focused on their own agendas,” noted Ezra Cohen, a former National Security Council member and Pentagon official during Trump’s first term. “He recognizes that his role is to implement the president’s policies.”
This was evident in Mr. Waltz’s reaction to President Trump’s recent outburst directed at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a televised meeting in the Oval Office.
Two days later, on UJ, Mr. Waltz remarked that Mr. Zelensky was “incredibly disrespectful” and questioned his readiness to pursue peace. The day before, on Breitbart Radio, he likened Mr. Zelensky to an “ex-girlfriend who wants to revisit every disagreement from years ago instead of progressing the relationship.”
Among those who were taken aback by Mr. Waltz’s comments was Representative Adam Smith, a Democrat from Washington, who led a congressional delegation to Ukraine in 2022. At that time, Mr. Waltz was the sole Republican member on the trip.
“The Mike Waltz I knew was a serious advocate for Ukraine,” Mr. Smith shared in an interview. “The Mike Waltz we see now seems to have adapted his stance to fit the Trumpian narrative: ‘Oh, Zelensky was so rude.’ At a certain point, it becomes rather sad. And I believe he knows better.”
However, for Mr. Trump’s loyal allies, the national security adviser’s sharp critique of the Ukrainian president felt like too little, too late.
Mr. Waltz’s hawkish stance and previous support for Mr. Zelensky have raised suspicions among administration insiders, according to three sources close to the president. Mr. Waltz has been criticized for his support for the Ukraine war, his vocal dislike for Russian President Vladimir Putin, and his past backing of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
Additionally, he has formed a team within the National Security Council that shares his views, which has not sat well with the president. The sources stated that Mr. Trump has expressed frustration with some of Mr. Waltz’s early staffing decisions, asking, “What on earth is going on with Mike?”
Mr. Waltz, who opted not to be interviewed for this article, recently returned from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where he, alongside other U.S. officials, persuaded Mr. Zelensky to consider a 30-day cease-fire—which Russia has yet to endorse.
National Security Council spokesperson, Brian Hughes, refuted the claim that Mr. Waltz was in trouble, labeling the dissenting voices as “the complaints of disgruntled insiders.”
Mr. Hughes also shared favorable remarks from Vice President JD Vance and senior White House officials about Mr. Waltz’s dedication to the America First agenda. Notably, none of these testimonials addressed concerns regarding Mr. Waltz’s staffing decisions or the military viewpoints he has held prior to his appointment.
Mr. Vance affirmed that Mr. Waltz is “completely dedicated to the president’s policy goals.” Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff, stated that Mr. Waltz’s commitment to the agenda was “undeniable.” Stephen Miller, the deputy chief of staff for policy, emphasized that Mr. Waltz was “steadfast and unwaveringly committed.”
Sebastian L. Gorka, the National Security Council’s senior director for counterterrorism, recounted, “Eight days into the Trump administration, when the president learned of ISIS establishing a major terror base in Somalia, it was Mike he turned to and instructed: ‘Eliminate them. All of them!’ And that’s precisely what Mike Waltz executed.”
(Mr. Waltz, a former Green Beret aged 51, did not personally carry out the strike; it was executed by U.S. Africa Command.)
Until recently, Mr. Waltz’s life seemed like something out of a Hallmark movie. A charismatic, well-spoken veteran with a charming Florida accent, he was raised by a single mother in Jacksonville, who juggled three jobs at times to make ends meet. He enlisted in the Army in 1996 and was deployed to Afghanistan after the September 11 attacks, earning four Bronze Stars, with two awarded for valor on the battlefield.
His career path thereafter followed a well-trod route. During the George W. Bush presidency, Mr. Waltz served as defense policy director at the Pentagon and as a counterterrorism adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney. This was followed by several prosperous years in the defense contracting sector, where he earned millions. He later ran for Congress, where he served three terms. Mr. Waltz is married to Julia Nesheiwat, a former Army intelligence officer who briefly held the position of homeland security adviser to Mr. Trump during his first term.
Additional aspects of his background made Mr. Waltz appealing to Mr. Trump.
He worked as a paid contributor for Fox News before announcing on “Fox & Friends” in early 2018 that he would be campaigning for the Florida congressional seat opened up by Ron DeSantis’s successful gubernatorial run. In Congress, Mr. Waltz denounced Trump’s first impeachment as a “farce.”
Two months after the president’s ousting, Mr. Waltz visited Trump at Mar-a-Lago, a gesture not often made by other Republican politicians at the time. He subsequently endorsed Trump over DeSantis in the 2024 Republican primary and dedicated much of the year to campaigning for Trump, including appearances on Fox News.
Yet Mr. Waltz never quite aligned himself with the most radical faction of the Republican Party. During his time in the House, he generally focused on military-related issues, such as improving the deteriorating conditions of Army barracks and researching post-traumatic stress disorder for veterans. Four Democrats who worked alongside him on the Armed Services Committee remarked that he was collegial and focused on substantive matters.
However, this began to shift in 2023, as recounted by three individuals. Mr. Waltz increasingly criticized President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and expressed concerns about what he termed “wokeness” infiltrating the military. He aspired to become the Secretary of Defense, as per a Trump associate who was approached by Mr. Waltz to advocate for him. Unfortunately, the position was awarded to Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News host, who had successfully appealed to Trump at Mar-a-Lago.
Mr. Trump selected Mr. Waltz for the national security adviser role only after his initial choice, Richard Grenell, a former ambassador to Germany and acting director of national intelligence during Trump’s first term, declined the position to pursue the State Department, as noted by a Trump associate queried about the selection process. The role ultimately went to former Senator Marco Rubio from Florida. Mr. Grenell did not respond to a request for a statement.
Mr. Waltz’s appointment as national security adviser reassured individuals from both parties. “Considering other nominees for this administration,” expressed Elaine Luria, a former Democratic congresswoman from Virginia who worked in the Armed Services Committee alongside Mr. Waltz, “the inclusion of Mike’s name among them brought me significant relief.”
However, providing reassurance to entrenched Beltway figures was not exactly a top concern for Mr. Trump. Several of the president’s associates expressed uncertainty over whether he was fully aware of Mr. Waltz’s background, which included his 2014 memoir, “Warrior Diplomat.” In this book, Mr. Waltz stated that he had “no ethical objections” to the invasion of Iraq and was primarily concerned that initiating that conflict would divert essential resources from the war in Afghanistan.
Mr. Trump has labeled the Iraq war as potentially “the worst decision made by any president in the history of this nation.”
In 2015, Mr. Waltz criticized Mr. Trump’s harsh remarks about Senator John McCain’s military service, asserting that Mr. Trump “has never dedicated a single day to serving this country” and rebuking him for “getting close to Putin.” After announcing his candidacy for the House in 2018, a primary opponent in the Republican race posted Mr. Waltz’s previous comments on the site NeverTrumperMikeWaltz.com.
“I backed him during his campaign after ensuring he was sufficiently hawkish and skeptical of Trump,” said Adam Kinzinger, a former Republican congressman and fighter pilot who eventually voted for Trump’s impeachment.
Mr. Waltz’s skepticism of Mr. Trump, however, was fleeting. “Ultimately, Mike is a pragmatist who knows exactly what he wants,” noted Mary Beth Long, a former assistant secretary of defense during George W. Bush’s administration who supervised Mr. Waltz at the Pentagon and later signed a letter opposing Trump’s candidacy. “Throughout his life, he has adapted to seize opportunities.”
By the conclusion of his 2018 campaign, Mr. Waltz had secured Mr. Trump’s endorsement. In December 2020, he, together with 125 other House Republicans, signed an amicus brief supporting a federal lawsuit aimed at overturning the presidential election results.
Yet on January 6, 2021, he reversed his stance and voted to certify the election results, which he characterized as a “despicable display of violence and intimidation.” Four months later, Mr. Waltz asserted that “those responsible will face justice.”
By 2024, Mr. Waltz had shifted his focus to a different legal issue. That May, he stood alongside two House Republican firebrands, Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert, outside a New York courthouse denouncing the hush-money trial against Mr. Trump as “election interference.”
Since taking on the role of national security adviser, Mr. Waltz has had to perform remarkable feats akin to those of gymnast Simone Biles. He previously advocated for a ban on TikTok in the U.S., yet recently conceded to a Fox interviewer that Mr. Trump “is a fan of TikTok” and described the app as “a fantastic product.”
Simultaneously, he appointed Alex Wong, a former aide to Mike Pompeo, as his deputy. This raised eyebrows because Mr. Pompeo has fallen from Trump’s grace. He also sought to recruit staff from House Republicans who staunchly support lethal assistance to Ukraine, in addition to individuals from the Hudson Institute, a think tank criticized by Trump allies for harboring neoconservative views.
It’s still uncertain whether Mr. Waltz will establish his footing within the new administration. If he does, it may lead to further disillusionment for those who have already accused him of excessive loyalty to Mr. Trump.
“The national security adviser’s role is to present a range of perspectives and options to the president based on a thorough analysis of the challenges we face,” stated Charles Kupperman, who served as Mr. Bolton’s deputy. “It is not about manipulating the system and the interagency process to deliver to Trump the answer he’s already indicated to them.”
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