Incoming National Security Adviser Mike Walz tells Breitbart News exclusively that he is currently reporting to the White House's National Security Council (NSC) under outgoing President Joe Biden. He said all intelligence officials from various ministries and agencies are expected to vacate the premises. By 12:01pm ET on Inauguration Day, President-elect Donald Trump will be sworn in again.
Walz told Breitbart News in a phone interview earlier this week that he tries to make sure everyone understands that “we're very clear what the agenda is.”
“Everyone is scheduled to resign at 12:01 p.m. on January 20th,” Walz said. “We are currently going through the process of getting everyone cleared and going through the transition process. Our staff knows who we want to have in the agency, so we are We have submitted requests and as far as the detailers, they are all going to be back.”
The way the NSC works is that the National Security Advisor oversees a team of political appointees from the president known as “detailers,” who work in various agencies and departments of the federal government. They supervise people assigned to them or who work in various departments of the federal government. Learn more about working in the White House for a period of time with a portfolio NSC that demonstrates your expertise. These career intelligence personnel come from a wide range of locations, including the FBI, CIA, NSA, Department of Defense, and other law enforcement and intelligence agencies, and report to political appointees at the top of each of the NSC's major portfolios. . The NSC has regional portfolios focused on areas such as the Western Hemisphere, Middle East, Europe and Asia, as well as portfolios specializing in issues as diverse as counter-terrorism and cyber policy. Detailers then help coordinate with various agencies and departments to ensure that the entire federal government implements the president's decisions.
One of the big problems President Trump faced during his first term came from some of these detailers within the NSC, including Alexander Vindman, the man who spearheaded President Trump's first impeachment. He was one of those people. Walz told Breitbart News that he is taking very serious steps to no longer have Vindman. From now on, anyone who obtains the position of NSC detail officer will participate in the president's policy, he said.
“Vindman's problem wasn't during the transfer window. Vindman's problem was that he was already scheduled to be transferred and he didn't move until the following summer or fall,” Walz said. “That's No. 1, No. 2. The people we bring in are 100 percent aligned with the president's policies. Absolutely, world leaders and everything that wants to come to Mar-a-Lago. If you look at the outreach from people, it looks like the whole world is aligned with his policies, which is a little different in that everyone was reflexively against him. There is [the first time] In 2017, Trump Derangement Syndrome spiraled out of control. Now that we've seen and felt four years of progressive governance under the Biden administration and seen the world unravel, we don't even see the level of resistance against Biden. Agenda—that's just a broader point. But the people we bring in, key members of my team, also have relationships at these agencies and know who is fully aligned. ”
Walz's interview with Breitbart News comes after Josh Steinman, a former political appointee to President Trump's NSC, posted a thread on Platform X, formerly known as Twitter, about NSC staffing. This comes after the company warned that it was concerned about some of the issues. In the interview, Walz told Breitbart News that Steinman's claims were wrong and that he could have addressed them quickly over the phone instead of causing a public uproar. Steinman has since appeared to withdraw his support from them, reposting Walz's X post explaining that all Biden-era detailers will be removed on day one.
“It's a very simple process,” Walz told Breitbart News. “A significant portion of the NSC is detailers from agencies, so our team knows who they want to bring on board, and we have made those requests and we intend to bring them on board. ”
The NSC is important because it is essentially a process instrument through which the president exercises political authority in the area of national security. Walz explained this in an interview, pointing to several key policy areas where the NSC will be very active during Trump's second term, from issues in the Western Hemisphere to the Middle East to Russia's war in Ukraine. Ta.
Asked to explain what the NSC does, Walz said, “We're basically giving the president a choice, and we're actually moving the decision through the process to the president.” “Some of those decisions, those that are completely in line with his policy, will be made by his Cabinet, but some will be made by him, the actual statutory National Security Council, not the NSC staff. need to be submitted. We will convene them. And then the second thing that I think we had some difficulty with in the first administration is, do we actually monitor and support the agencies and the agencies actually implement his decisions? It is their responsibility to make sure that it is their personal decision. That's where you have to put aside, whether they agree with it or not, he's the elected president of the United States and commander in chief. It's about nuclear policy, cyber policy, pandemics (like bird flu). (has been thrown around a bit), and regional strategies that align with his agenda. We've heard from him about Canada, Greenland, the Panama Canal, borders, deportations, Remain in Mexico, and American leadership. reintroduced into the Western Hemisphere. [Also, the focus will be on] Ending the war in Ukraine, negotiating it, and getting people out of Gaza, but what happens after Gaza so that October 7th doesn't happen again? Then I hope that the next step in the Abraham Accords will be Saudi Arabia relatively soon. I mean, he's ready to do a lot of things, he's ready to make big changes without accepting the status quo, but he's completely comfortable doing it all and putting it together. He needs a team that is completely happy with him. Think of something like cyber. Developing effective cyber policy requires the coming together of DHS, FBI, Department of Defense, NSA, other IC agencies, and numerous industry partners. It takes a team to make that happen.”
Regarding cyber policy in particular, Walz predicted that under President Trump's second term, the United States may use more offensive capabilities as a deterrent against state actors.
“In cyber, we've played a lot of defense and we continue to try to play better defense,” Walz said. “One of the doctrinal and policy changes we'll work on for him is whether he can perform better on the offensive end. How can we change our behavior? 1 If we can't stop all the millions of attacks a day, how do we re-establish deterrence so that some of these actors, especially state actors like China and Iran, stop trying? Personally, I believe that you are putting a cyber time bomb on our nation's ports and power grid. If we're going to plant a bullet, we believe we can do it if we prove that you can do it too. So let's not do mutually assured destruction and let's cool down a little bit on this one. , is a great example of where I think we might see change.”
But “many” of the NSC's actions in the coming years will undo the damage done during the Biden administration and return to “what worked,” including “a return to maximum pressure on Iran,” he said. spoke. Push them towards a better deal if that's the direction he wants to go,” and “a return to deterrence with Russia.”
Walz was one of the first appointments President Trump announced immediately after winning the presidential election, and since the position of national security adviser does not require Senate confirmation, he has since been appointed to the next position. He has become one of the most vocal and public figures in the Trump administration. Walz and several others filled the gap, as other people slated to fill cabinet positions must be approved by the Senate before they can begin regularly engaging publicly with the media. But most importantly, Walz said he is fighting to have the right team in place at the NSC for Trump to be on the job from day one, adding that there have been “no hiccups” along the way.
“We have teams in place to solve political problems. [appointees] And we literally just got a list of people who are currently there. [the detailees from the agencies] And like I said, they're all going to be told to go,” Walz said. “We will accept resignations at 12:01 and we will have the president's team in place. If anyone is worried, I'm not new to this town, especially if you've already been here for years. If you're on a team, give us a call and let's work together. Everyone should be excited about this, like Seb Gorka and others. There are people who are very famous. I am agitating for a presidential policy that knows how to obtain information and is unflinching when it comes to providing information to terrorists and protecting the safety and security of the country. It was number one in appearances. If anyone thinks I somehow have a platoon full of Never Trumpers now, they are full of them. That's ridiculous.”
Walz also learned from several of his predecessors in the role and sees the role as a way to help implement the president's decisions.
“We have strong people in place that align perfectly with his policies. We know who we want to bring in from the agency to fill in the details.” Walz said. “Also, the responsibility of the Cabinet will be to make sure that reducing the bloated bureaucracy is consistent with ensuring that what the president is trying to put together is implemented. mobilizing people at the executive, deputy secretary, and cabinet levels, and as needed, the president himself. I think part of what some of my predecessors struggled with was trying to get him acclimated to this process. I know exactly, I have already made my decision and now I just have to carry it out.”
Additionally, President Trump is unique from other modern presidents in that, despite being out of office for the past four years and returning to the White House in two weeks, he continues to think about how to respond. He added that there are advantages that cannot be avoided. These big challenges for the nation.
“He's not a first-year president who has to have all these issues presented to him across all agencies,” Walz said. “He's not even a fifth-year president. He's an eight- or nine-year president. The last four. Over the years, he hasn't stopped thinking about these things. I mean, a lot of these things are about going back to what was working, or the Obama-Biden team sending us in the wrong direction. , it's about undoing what we've done to get us back on track. I think the last part is that we're going to become more outcome-oriented. with different features and regions 4 We asked them to explain what they would like to do in a year. What do we want the world or region to look like? What points and deals do we need? And what is the schedule for six months to two years? Or if we cut it down to one year, we'd have national security in Washington, D.C. It's going to be a no-brake situation to not just accept the status quo of the system, but to do a lot of these deals at the same time. He's a disruptor and we're going to be disruptive and innovative and that. We don't just accept things because they've always been that way.”
