Trump Picks Two Pro-Maritime Politicians for Senior Foreign Policy Posts

 

President Donald Trump is selecting the first set of leaders for his second administration, and he has picked two names that bode well for the U.S. Navy and American shipping. 

Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) has been named Trump's new national security advisor, the seniormost security policy post in the White House. Waltz, a former Green Beret and a combat veteran, served as defense policy director for Secretaries of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates. He was elected to Florida's 6th District in 2019 and serves on the House Armed Forces Committee.

In Congress, Waltz joined the House China Task Force, and he made a rare decision to tackle America's maritime challenges. Earlier this year, Waltz helped co-write the "Congressional Guidance for a National Maritime Strategy" and a corresponding bill, the Ships for America Act. 

The guidance document identifies China's dominance in shipbuilding, shipping and seapower as a threat to U.S. national security. It calls for strengthening the Jones Act fleet and reinvigorating domestic shipyards to provide a counterweight to China's rise. Its top priorities include formalizing a national maritime strategy, appointing a White House maritime czar, and putting significant funding into the federal government's maritime agencies. 

"We must act now, before it is too late, and make a once-in-a-generation investment in the future of America's maritime power," Rep. Waltz said in a statement at the time of the report's release. 

Waltz was an outspoken critic of the Navy's Littoral Combat Ship program, and has described the troubled Freedom-class as "a total lemon" and a "disaster." Though an early supporter of Ukraine's defense, he no longer favors providing large-scale military aid to Kyiv.  

Trump has also named Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) as his new secretary of state. Rubio, a prominent China hawk, was also a cosponsor of the Ships for America Act and coauthor of the "Congressional Guidance for a National Maritime Strategy" paper. At the time of the report's release, he called for Congress to "act swiftly to adopt a maritime strategy that invests in our industrial base, reestablishes a strong workforce, and strengthens our national security." Like Waltz, Rubio was an early backer of Ukraine's defense, but now opposes further funding for Kyiv. 

Both men have spoken in favor of defending Taiwan from Chinese aggression and deterring a potential cross-strait conflict. "I don't have any worries about the U.S. being supportive of Taiwan and doing everything we can to discourage the Chinese from invading," Rubio said in July. 

Trump has also selected South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem as his new secretary of homeland security, a post that oversees the U.S. Coast Guard. A former congresswoman, Noem served for two years on the House Armed Services Committee. In her new appointment, she is expected to focus on Trump's effort to tighten security at the southern border.  

The president-elect may change his roster at a later date. During the four years of the first Trump administration, there were six national security advisors, six homeland security secretaries and four secretaries of state, including acting appointees.