Photo: Reuters

US President-elect Donald Trump has chosen former army special forces veteran and prominent China hawk Michael Waltz for the pivotal National Security Advisor role in the White House, according to reports on Monday.

Waltz is expected to play a crucial advisory role in the incoming administration as it grapples with a host of foreign policy challenges, including the conflicts in Ukraine, Lebanon, and Gaza. The New York Times and CNN reported his imminent appointment on Monday, citing unnamed sources.

The Florida congressman delivered a speech endorsing Trump at the Republican National Convention in July, where he advocated for "peace through America's strength." When asked about Trump's plans to end the war in Ukraine, Waltz told CNN on election night last week that there was "a way to drive this war to an end, we can do it economically, we can do it diplomatically." He specifically mentioned enforcing sanctions on Russia's energy sector, having previously referred to the country as a "gas station with nukes."

"You could win this economically," he said during an interview to promote his book 'Hard Truths: Think and Lead Like a Green Beret' last month, which also suggested flooding the oil market with US crude to drive down prices. "Just pouring more billions in (to Ukraine) is the definition of insanity at this point," he told an interviewer at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute.

On China, Waltz wrote in his book that America faced an "existential struggle" with the Chinese Communist Party. He expressed concern about what he termed a "1930s-era, Nazi Germany-style military build-up" in China during a talk at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation last month.

In his speech at the Republican Convention, Waltz also emphasized his desire to see "accountability" for Washington's chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 under President Joe Biden. He called it "a stain on our national conscience" and praised Trump for promising to release official documents and communications over the withdrawal, which could prove to be a major embarrassment for the Biden administration.

Waltz served in Afghanistan during a 27-year career in the army. He has extensive experience in Congress, sitting on the Armed Services and Intelligence Committee in the House of Representatives and the Foreign Affairs Committee.

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