President-elect Trump has appointed Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., to join his administration as national security adviser.

“Mike is the first Green Beret elected to Congress and has previously served in the White House and the Pentagon,” Trump said in a statement announcing his latest Cabinet pick. “Mike served 27 years in the Army Special Forces, where he was deployed multiple times in combat for which he was awarded four Bronze Stars, including two with Valor.”

“Mike retired as a colonel and is a nationally recognized leader in National Security, a best-selling author and an expert on the threats from China, Russia, Iran and global terrorism,” the statement said. “He is a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Mike is a distinguished graduate with distinction of the Virginia Military Institute. Mike has been a strong advocate for my America First foreign policy agenda, and will be a tremendous advocate for our pursuit of peace through strength!”

Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., attends the 2024 Concordia Annual Summit on September 23, 2024 in New York City. (John Nacion/Getty Images)

The move puts Waltz at the forefront of a litany of national security crises — ranging from U.S. arms shipments to Ukraine and escalating concerns about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea to the continued attacks in the Middle East by Iranian allies and the push for a ceasefire between Israel and the terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah.

Waltz, a three-term Republican congressman from east-central Florida, was the first Green Beret elected to the U.S. House and easily won reelection last week. He served as chairman of the House Armed Services Preparedness Subcommittee and as a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

He is seen as hawkish toward China and called for a U.S. boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing over his involvement in the origins of COVID-19 and continued mistreatment of the Uyghur minority Muslim population.

He has been a sharp critic of the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan and has called on the US to hold accountable those responsible for the deaths of the 13 US service members at Abbey Gate and for “thousands of Americans and allies behind enemy lines”. . He has also echoed Trump’s frequent complaints about a “woke” military that the former president derides for being too focused on diversity and equality programs.

Last year, Waltz said in a statement as head of the preparedness subcommittee: “I am ready to get to work on better equipping our military and turning our attention away from woke priorities and back to winning wars. Our national security depends on it. “

A graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, Waltz was a Green Beret. He served in the active military for four years before moving to the Florida Guard. While in the Guard, he served multiple combat tours in Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa and received four Bronze Stars, including two for valor. He also worked in the Pentagon as a policy advisor when Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates were defense chiefs.

This is a development story. Check back for updates. The Associated Press contributed to this report.