Trump appoints national security advisor, ambassador to Israel in incoming administration

WASHINGTON -- US President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday announced his decision to pick Florida's Republican Congressman Mike Waltz as the national security advisor in his forthcoming administration, and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee as the next US ambassador to Israel.

"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, hailing the retired US Army colonel as "a nationally recognized leader in national security", as well as "a strong champion of my America First Foreign Policy agenda".

A native Floridian, 50-year-old Waltz served in the US Army and the National Guard for a combined period of 27 years, including as a member of the elite US Army Special Forces?— colloquially known as the Green Berets. He was deployed for multiple combat missions in Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa.

During his active-duty service as a guardsman, Waltz meanwhile worked in Washington as a defense strategist for the federal government, serving in the Pentagon as defense policy director for former Republican secretaries of defense Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates. At the time, his advisory role also reached the White House, when he was chosen by former vice-president Dick Cheney as the counterterrorism advisor to the vice-president.

Waltz was elected into the House in 2019, representing Florida's 6th congressional district, a seat vacated by Ron DeSantis after he was elected governor of the Sunshine State.

The national security advisor, unlike the ambassador to Israel, would not need Senate approval.

Huckabee was the 44th governor of Arkansas, serving between 1996 and 2007. He was chair of the National Governors Association from 2005 to 2006.

In a separate statement announcing Huckabee's nomination, Trump claimed that Huckabee, 69, "loves Israel, and the people of Israel, and likewise, the people of Israel love him".

"Mike will work tirelessly to bring about peace in the Middle East!" Trump said of Huckabee.

Huckabee was a Republican presidential candidate in the 2008 election, announcing his bid for White House in January 2007 and withdrawing his candidacy in March 2008, when it became clear that his Republican primary rival, John McCain, would secure the party's nomination. McCain ended up being defeated by the Democrat ticket with Barack Obama at the top.