President Donald Trump selected Mike Waltz to be his national security advisor on Nov. 11, 2024, just days after winning the election. Waltz, a Republican, was elected to the House of Representatives in 2018 and served until Jan. 20, 2025, when he resigned to join the second Trump administration.
The national security advisor position is not subject to Senate confirmation.
In his first months as national security advisor, Waltz traveled with Secretary of State Marco Rubio to Saudi Arabia to discuss peace in Ukraine, rejected the notion that Ukraine would be joining NATO, participated in ending a waiver that allows Iraq to buy Iranian electricity and said Trump is not planning to invade Canada.
Who is he?
Waltz, 51, represented Florida in the House for three full terms, resigning in the early days of his fourth term to join the Trump administration. He served on the Armed Services, Foreign Affairs and Intelligence committees during his six years on Capitol Hill.
Waltz served in the U.S. Army in the late 1990s and then in the Army National Guard until becoming national security advisor. He was the first Green Beret to serve in Congress and went on multiple combat tours to Afghanistan, for which he received four Bronze Stars.
Prior to his election, Waltz was director for Afghanistan policy in the office of the secretary of defense in the George W. Bush administration and advised Vice President Dick Cheney on counterterrorism and South Asia. In 2010, he founded the defense and intelligence advising firm Metis Solutions and has made frequent appearances on Fox News.
His wife, Julia Nesheiwat, was homeland security adviser in the first Trump administration. Trump nominated her sister, Janette Nesheiwat, to be surgeon general.
Follow the money
- Throughout his congressional career, Waltz’s campaigns received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the defense industry. Of his top 20 contributors, eight were companies related to the defense industry, and they contributed a total of $292,000 through individuals and political action committees. RTX Corp contributed $34,000, AT&T Inc (which has a defense-related division) $29,000, Northrop Grumman $27,500, Honeywell International $26,000 and Boeing Co $28,000 — all through PACs. General Dynamics contributed $26,000 through PACs and $11,850 through individuals, Sierra Nevada Corp gave $19,000 through PACs and $9,600 through individuals, and Total Military Management contributed $73,700 through individuals.
- Waltz’s top contributors during the 2024 election cycle were the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, with $92,900 provided by individuals and $10,000 from political actions committees, Starkey Hearing Technologies ($19,800 through individuals and $2,500 through PACs), and the defense company General Atomics ($6,600 through individuals and $7,500 through PACs).
- Waltz helped found Metis Solutions, a defense and intelligence contracting firm. He sold the company to Pacific Architects and Engineers, a defense contractor that was hired by the United States to train and mentor Afghan security forces, for between $5.5 million and $26 million, according to a financial disclosure. In 2017, PAE reached a $5 million settlement with the U.S.government for failing to properly vet its personnel in Afghanistan.
- In 2018, OpenSecrets estimated Waltz held assets totaling between almost $1.4 million and $3.4 million, including Metis (valued between $600,000 and $1.25 million). In 2024, according to an updated financial disclosure report, Waltz’s assets were worth between $4 million and $9 million. His liabilities range between over $1 million and almost $2.2 million.
- Waltz is a managing member of Warrior Diplomat LLC, a defense consulting company. The owner of the company is Daniel Nesheiwat, his wife’s brother.
- Waltz is also a director of the nonprofit Arms Wide Open, a childhood cancer foundation, according to his financial disclosure, although he is not listed as a director on the organization’s website and is not mentioned in its 990 form.
Why does it matter?
- Much of Waltz’s financial support for his political campaigns came from the defense industry, and he now advises the president on national security issues and assists in decision making regarding foreign and national security policies.
- Waltz is known for his hawkish stance on foreign affairs, especially relating to China, Russia, Mexico and Afghanistan. While in Congress, he sponsored legislation to create a boycott of the Winter Olympics in China, condemned Biden’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, and introduced legislation that would authorize the United States to use military force against Mexican drug cartels.
- In addition to his committee work in the House, Waltz co-chaired the India Caucus with Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and he sponsored a bill that would enable the U.S. government to sell weapons to India. Khanna and Waltz led a bipartisan delegation to India in August 2023, shortly after introducing the bill. In February 2025, he had a call with Indian Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to “further deepen the India-U.S. Global Strategic Partnership, with a focus on strategic technologies, as well as defense industrial cooperation and civil nuclear energy.”
This article is part of a series examining the role political money has played in the careers of President Donald Trump’s nominees for executive branch positions.
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