Incoming National Security Adviser Mike Walz disputes reports that neoconservatives are supporting personnel on President-elect Donald Trump's National Security Council (NSC), stating that no one other than Trump and his transition team He claimed that no one was making personnel decisions.
Waltz told Tablet Magazine in an exclusive interview with the Daily Caller. report According to the report, Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, is trying to get his chief of staff, Adam Howard, to become the NSC's senior director of intelligence, saying he is “taking over Trump's IC (Intelligence Community).” ” he boasts. “This is how it's supposed to happen,” Howard said, the Tablet reported. [Turner’s] It is located in the “instrument” position.
However, Mr. Walz and Mr. Turner both denied reporting to Kohler. Walz said he has not discussed NSC staffing or policy issues with Turner since he was nominated by President Trump. Turner also claimed that he was not part of Trump's transition team and that the anonymous report was false. (Related: Exclusive: Mike Walz teases 'consequences' for former Intel official who signed Hunter Biden's disinformation letter)
“President-elect Trump has an incredible national security team that will reverse the Biden administration's dangerous policies. I have never sought to and have not participated in any part of the Trump transition team. Any anonymous reports to the contrary are false. We look forward to working with the Trump administration,” Turner told the Caller.
Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio), chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, during a press conference for members of the U.S. Congressional delegation in Kyiv, Ukraine, July 1, 2024. (Photo credit: Vitalii Nosach/Global Images Ukraine, via Getty Images)
“No one is making personnel decisions other than President Trump and his transition team,” Walz said. I mean, that's it. And whoever we bring to the NSC will be arrested through presidential appointments. I mean, there's a lot of rumors going around, right? But that's all they are. ”
Walz acknowledged that there is reason for skepticism after Trump's first term, which included advisers such as John Bolton and HRH McMaster, but he believes a second term will be different. insisted.
“I mean, that's understandable. There's so much mistrust after what the president went through in his first term. There's so much mistrust in these institutions right now,” he added. (Related: 'I don't sound like Hitler': Republican Rep. Mike Walz says claims that Trump is a 'fascist' are meaningless)
But just a week after the report about the tablets was removed, Mr. Turner unceremoniously said: exiled As Chairman of the House of Commons Standing Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI). daily beast reported Trump reportedly pressured Chairman Mike Johnson to make changes.
“Mr. Trump is personally involved and believes that Mr. Turner is essentially a sycophant in the intelligence community,” a person familiar with the firing told The Daily Beast.
The allegations have since been denied by both Johnson and Trump's 2024 political director James Blair. The move came from Mr. Johnson and the broader House Republican conference, which was concerned about Mr. Turner's closeness to the intelligence community, according to people familiar with the decision-making process.
Incorrect information. https://t.co/PxY0rjy1rw
— James Blair (@JamesBlairUSA) January 16, 2025
Mr. Turner, one of the most pro-Ukrainian members of the Republican caucus, has denied that the Afghanistan withdrawal was an intelligence failure and announced in March 2023 that he would have to wait for the intelligence community's report to be declassified. However, he said that he could not say with confidence what the situation was. The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) virus has occurred. Given the timing of the announcement that Mr. Turner would be removed from his position as chairman, the incoming Trump administration is at least aware of the Tablet report and does not intend to disprove that Mr. Turner had any influence. Speculation was widespread.
Walz similarly wants to dispel lingering doubts that the intelligence community is too neoconservative to carry out Trump's agenda. he faced some backlash When his appointment was announced, he had been excluded from the anti-war wing of the MAGA movement due to his hawkish stance on certain foreign issues, including Iran.
He said the people he hires will be focused on “America First policies,” and that ultimately his job will be to push the intelligence community to implement President Trump's vision. Walz said his job is to “explore options” for Trump to “put all voices on the table,” but that Trump will ultimately make the final decision.
“Here's the thing about Trump. He welcomes different ideas, different views, but what you don't see is, last time, you have Tillerson and Mattis who think they know more than they do. It’s the location,” Walz told the Caller. . “My job is to help him execute.”
“The experts that I've brought in know that the agency people that are on our team are on board with his agenda. But look, in President Trump's White House. Anyone who works will buy into his America First policy. That's it. I mean, it's simple. Do you have any suggestions for me or anyone else to do it differently? As I said, it's just rumors and innuendos,” he continued. “If you fundamentally disagree with the president's policies, go work somewhere else. It's nothing personal. This is not the position for you.”
As of Wednesday, just five days before Trump's inauguration, Qatar's prime minister announced that Israel and Hamas had reached a temporary ceasefire agreement, ending 15 months of conflict. Mr. Trump and his advisers are working toward a deal, and Mr. Biden's State Department spokesman said Mr. Trump's team will be “critical” to getting the deal across the finish line. Walz called the president-elect's influence the “Trump effect.”
“We're seeing it all over the world. And when President Trump says he's going to do hell if he doesn't rescue the hostages by January 20th, the current White House occupant “Unlike that, the world knows he means it.”
President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for Secretary of Defense Pete is introduced by Representative Michael Walz (R-Florida) during Hegseth's Senate military confirmation hearing in the Dirksen Building on Tuesday, January 14, 2025. Mr. Hegseth (right). (Tom Williams) /CQ-Roll Call, Inc (via Getty Images)
“With President Trump coming in, we're not going to see any upside. There's only downside and consequences. And they believe in him. And that's why you're seeing what you're seeing.” said Walz about the world's reaction to President Trump's victory in November. “We're seeing a movement towards peace, and we're going to go back to the Abraham Accords, and we're going to go back to talking about rail and infrastructure, textile and growth, not war and inflation. That's why I'm joining him on this I was very excited to get the job.”
When asked if he had been involved in any conversations or negotiations regarding peace in the Middle East or Ukraine, Walz paused a bit, telling the caller, “We're setting the table right now.”