Trump’s Foreign Policy Picks Draw Mixed Reactions

President-elect Donald Trump’s foreign policy team is starting to take shape with the announcement of key appointments to cabinet-level positions.

Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) was selected by Trump to be his National Security Advisor (NSA). Waltz, who fought in Afghanistan, also currently serves on the House Armed Services Committee, the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

The NSA position has historically been extremely influential, and the office is right down the hall from the Oval Office. The most famous officeholder, Henry Kissinger, famously worked around the Department of State to make foreign policy directly with President Richard Nixon.

Trump’s pick to head up the Pentagon was something of a dark horse: Pete Hegseth. Like Waltz, Hegseth is an Army veteran, having served in Iraq, Afghanistan, and at Guantánamo Bay. He is also a well-known Fox News host and has been outspoken on the Pentagon’s mismanagement, arguing that generals who support DEI initiatives should be fired.

For the Ambassador to the United Nations, Trump picked Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), a staunch Israel defender who famously took down several university administrators overseeing chaotic pro-Palestine demonstrations.

For Secretary of State — America’s top diplomat and historically the most influential cabinet position — Trump selected Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL). Once a presidential candidate running against Trump, Rubio crafted a new image for himself as a populist, shifting away from his Tea Party-era views that initially launched his career into politics.

Curt Mills, executive director of The American Conservative, called Trump’s selections “the JV Hawks.” Former Congressman and Libertarian Party member Ron Paul, along with libertarian-leaning Republicans, also expressed dismay over Rubio, citing his interventionism and Ukraine support.

These concerns over Waltz and Rubio come from the belief that they are too eager to have America involved in foreign conflicts. Waltz, in 2017, called the war in Afghanistan “a war of ideas” and said winning would take multiple decades. Rubio also has a long history of supporting a muscular foreign policy.

However, both Waltz and Rubio are less supportive of spending limitless cash in Ukraine than at first glance. Rubio has publicly come to the conclusion that the Russo-Ukrainian War can only end in negotiations, and Waltz expressed outrage last year that Europe was not spending more on the conflict.

Ultimately, muscular foreign policy may be what Trump is looking for. All the major and rumored picks are extremely tough on China, and their hawkishness on Russia could be used by Trump as a bargaining chip with Moscow to force negotiations and freeze the war.