Mike Waltz
Mike Waltz | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Waltz in 2025 | |
| United States Ambassador to the United Nations | |
Nominee | |
| Assuming office TBD | |
| President | Donald Trump |
| Succeeding | Dorothy Shea (acting) |
| 29th United States National Security Advisor | |
| In office January 20, 2025 – May 1, 2025 | |
| President | Donald Trump |
| Deputy | Alex Wong |
| Preceded by | Jake Sullivan |
| Succeeded by | Marco Rubio (acting) |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's 6th district | |
| In office January 3, 2019 – January 20, 2025 | |
| Preceded by | Ron DeSantis |
| Succeeded by | Randy Fine |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Michael George Glen Waltz January 31, 1974 Boynton Beach, Florida, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | Virginia Military Institute (BA) |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service | United States Army |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Unit | U.S. Army Special Forces |
| Battles/wars | War in Afghanistan |
| Awards | Bronze Star (4) |
Michael George Glen Waltz (born January 31, 1974)[1] is an American politician and a colonel in the United States Army who was the 29th United States National Security Advisor from January 2025 until May 2025. He was the U.S. representative for Florida's 6th congressional district from 2019 until 2025. Waltz is a member of the Republican Party.
In November 2024, President-elect Donald Trump nominated Waltz to serve as his national security advisor.[2] He took office on January 20, 2025, replacing Jake Sullivan. In May 2025, following the government group Signal chat leaks, Trump announced he would remove Waltz as his national security advisor to nominate him as the next U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.
Early life
[change | change source]Waltz was born in Boynton Beach, Florida, and grew up in Jacksonville, Florida.[3] He studied at the Virginia Military Institute and became a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army.[4][5]
Waltz worked in the Pentagon as a defense policy director for secretaries of defense Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates. He went on to serve in the White House as the vice president's counterterrorism advisor.[6]
U.S. House of Representatives
[change | change source]Waltz ran for Florida's 6th congressional district in 2018 to replace Republican Ron DeSantis, who was elected governor of Florida.[7][8] He ran against Democrat Nancy Soderberg in the general election.[9] Waltz won with 56.31% of the vote to Soderberg's 43.69%.[10] He would be re-elected in 2020, 2022 and 2024.
In December 2020, Waltz was one of 126 Republican members of the House of Representatives to sign an amicus brief in support of Texas v. Pennsylvania, a lawsuit filed at the United States Supreme Court that did not support the results of the 2020 presidential election.[11][12][13][14]
On May 19, 2021, Waltz voted against legislation to create a January 6 commission meant to investigate the storming of the U.S. Capitol.[15]
Waltz was a strong critic of China, saying, "We are in a Cold War with the Chinese Communist Party."[16] In 2021, he was the first member of Congress to call for a full U.S. boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing over what he described as the CCP's genocide and internment of Chinese Uyghur populations.[17][18] He compared the 2022 Olympics to the 1936 Summer Olympics held in Nazi Germany.[19] In 2024, he called China an "existential threat to the US with the most rapid military build-up since the 1930s", and supported significant investments in the US Navy.[20]
Waltz resigned from Congress on January 20, 2025 to become the U.S. National Security Advisor in the second Trump administration.[21]
National Security Advisor
[change | change source]In November 2024, President-elect Donald Trump nominated Waltz to serve as his national security advisor.[2] He took office on January 20, 2025, shortly after Trump was inaugurated.
On May 1, 2025, it was reported that Waltz, along with Deputy National Security Advisor Alex Wong, would leave their jobs following group chat leaks on messaging platform Signal.[22] The same day, President Trump announced that he planned to nominate Waltz as U.S. ambassador to the UN.[23]
Ambassador to the United Nations
[change | change source]Waltz was nominated to serve as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations on May 1, 2025.[23]
Personal life
[change | change source]Waltz has a teenage daughter and is married to Julia Nesheiwat. Waltz and Nesheiwat also have a child together. They live in St. Johns County.
Waltz wrote "Warrior Diplomat: A Green Beret’s Battles from Washington to Afghanistan."[24]
References
[change | change source]- ↑ Perks, Ashley (November 15, 2018). "Florida New Members 2019". TheHill.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Collins, Kaitlan (November 11, 2024). "Trump asks Mike Waltz to be his national security adviser, source says". CNN. Retrieved November 11, 2024.
- ↑ "Biography | U.S. Representative Mike Waltz". waltz.house.gov. Archived from the original on 2024-12-03. Retrieved 2024-11-12.
- ↑ Buswell, Brent. "VMI Grad Elected to U.S. Congress". Kappa Alpha Order. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
- ↑ "Representative Michael Waltz". Representative Michael Waltz. Archived from the original on 2021-05-03. Retrieved 2019-01-04.
- ↑ "In the House". National Guard Association of the United States. April 29, 2019.
- ↑ "Republican Michael Waltz wins open Florida House seat, keeping 6th District in GOP control". SFGate. Retrieved 2018-11-07.
- ↑ "Special forces: How Mike Waltz defeated the national left – Florida Politics". floridapolitics.com. November 9, 2018. Retrieved 2018-11-11.
- ↑ Piggott, Jim (July 12, 2017). "Former UN ambassador to run for Congress". WJXT. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
- ↑ "2018 Florida general election results". Retrieved February 12, 2021.
- ↑ Blood, Michael R.; Riccardi, Nicholas (December 5, 2020). "Biden officially secures enough electors to become president". AP News. Archived from the original on December 8, 2020. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ↑ Liptak, Adam (2020-12-11). "Supreme Court Rejects Texas Suit Seeking to Subvert Election". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved 2020-12-12.
- ↑ "Order in Pending Case" (PDF). Supreme Court of the United States. 2020-12-11. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
- ↑ Diaz, Daniella. "Brief from 126 Republicans supporting Texas lawsuit in Supreme Court". CNN. Archived from the original on December 12, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
- ↑ LeBlanc, Paul (May 19, 2021). "Here are the 35 House Republicans who voted for the January 6 commission". CNN. Retrieved July 22, 2021.
- ↑ "Michael Waltz: We are in a cold war with the Chinese Communist Party". April 14, 2021.
- ↑ Knickmeyer, Ellen; Tang, Didi (2024-11-14). "Trump's mainstream picks for top foreign policy posts could reassure allies — and worry China". Associated Press. Retrieved 2024-11-14.
- ↑ Harper, Mark. "Congressman Michael Waltz: Boycott 2022 Olympic Games in China". Daytona Beach News-Journal Online.
- ↑ Mackinnon, Amy; Pike, Lili (15 November 2024). "Trump's China Hawks Are Also Uyghur Advocates". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 29 December 2024.
- ↑ Fray, Keith; Russell, Alec (2024-11-06). "Donald Trump's foreign policy plan: embrace unpredictability". Financial Times. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
- ↑ "Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives". clerk.house.gov. Retrieved 2025-02-26.
- ↑ Jacobs, Jennifer (May 1, 2025). "Trump's national security adviser Mike Waltz and his deputy to leave posts in White House". CBS News. Retrieved May 1, 2025.
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 Haberman, Maggie; Sanger, David E.; Swan, Jonathan (2025-05-01). "Trump Moves Waltz to the U.N. and Names Rubio His Interim National Security Adviser". The New York Times. Retrieved 2025-05-01.
- ↑ Waltz, Michael G. (2014). Warrior Diplomat. University of Nebraska Press. doi:10.2307/j.ctt1d9nmt5. ISBN 9781612346311. JSTOR j.ctt1d9nmt5.
Other websites
[change | change source]
- Congressman Michael Waltz Archived 2021-05-03 at the Wayback Machine official U.S. House website
- Michael Waltz for Congress
- Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
- Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Vote Smart
- Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
- Appearances on C-SPAN
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