US President-elect Donald Trump announced five new appointments on Tuesday, including close collaborators who will implement his vision of national security and foreign policy issues.
He recruited Florida Rep. Mike Waltz, a former military man, as national security adviser, and former Rep. John Ratcliffe as director of the CIAthe central American intelligence agency, in addition to choosing, in particular, two of the figures of its diplomacy in the Middle East.
Mike has been a strong supporter of my America First foreign policy agenda, and he will be a strong supporter of our pursuit of peace through strength
Donald Trump said in a statement.
Along with Secretary of State – a position that remains to be filled, but for which Florida Senator Marco Rubio is tipped – Mike Waltz will be the architect of the foreign policy of the 47e American president. The latter, among other things, promised to end the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, without however specifying how.
A former member of the special forces decorated multiple times for his bravery, Mike Waltz is considered a hawk on national security issues, particularly in relation to China and Iran, and is a staunch ally of Israel.
He served on the House of Representatives' Strategic Committees on Armed Services, Foreign Affairs, and Intelligence.
The new addition to the Trump administration, which has previously supported military aid to Ukraine, has in recent months questioned the extent of financial support provided to the country by the United States, calling on countries to NATO to do more.
Last month, he argued, in an article published in The Economistfor a rapid end to the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East in order to refocus foreign policy priorities around a more muscular policy towards Beijing.
His nomination will not need Senate approval.
This is the second representative chosen by Donald Trump after Elise Stefanik, appointed Monday ambassador of the United States to the UN. Once seen as a moderate, she made a 180-degree turn, adapting her positions to those of Donald Trump.
The American president-designate also announced his intention to appoint as head of the CIA former Representative John Ratcliffe, who served as Director of National Intelligence (DNI) during his first term.
He will be a fearless defender of the constitutional rights of all Americans
he assured in a press release.
During the process of confirming his appointment as number one of the DAYS in 2020, John Ratcliffe did not obtain the support of any Democrat. The Democrats had cited his lack of experience and objectivity.
Pro-colony evangelist as ambassador to Israel
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Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee attended a ceremony marking the construction of a new residential complex in the Israeli settlement of Efrat in the occupied West Bank in 2018.
Photo : Reuters / AMIR COHEN
On Tuesday, Donald Trump also named former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, an evangelical whose religious beliefs shape his view of Israel and the Palestinian territories, as US ambassador to Israel.
In a press release, he assured that he would work tirelessly to bring peace to the Middle East!
Mike Huckabee is the father of current Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who served as White House spokesperson for part of the former president's first term.
Mr. Trump displays unwavering support for Israel, but the appointment of the former pastor is particularly revealing.
Mr. Huckabee condemned efforts to reach a negotiated ceasefire agreement and rejects the very notion of occupation of the Palestinian territories, a term recognized by theHIM.
The West Bank does not exist – it is Judea and Samaria. There are no colonies. They are communities. These are neighborhoods. They are cities. There is no occupation
he said in 2017, quoted by the American public network NPR.
On Monday, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich interpreted Donald Trump's victory as an opportunity for his country to exercise full sovereignty over certain parts of the occupied West Bank, reported the Washington Post.
Donald Trump also announced during the day the appointment of Steven Witkoff, a New York investor specializing in real estate, as special United States envoy for the Middle East.
An orderly process
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Donald Trump made Tom Homan the “border czar” (file photo).
Photo : AP Photo / Matt Rourke
He also appointed William McGinley as White House legal advisor on Tuesday. He had previously acted as liaison between President Trump and the various departments and agencies.
The president-elect is also expected to announce shortly who will lead the Department of Homeland Security, another key position in his administration. The expected candidate is the governor of South Dakota, Kristi Noem.
US media also reported that he is expected to appoint his top immigration adviser, Stephen Miller, as deputy chief of staff for policy. Advisor to the White House during Donald Trump's first term, he was the architect of his migration policies, including the most controversial.
In less than a week, Donald Trump announced nine appointments, which are part of a less chaotic process than in 2016.
He has already made his campaign co-chair Susie Wiles his chief of staff, his first appointment after his victory.
He also decided to give Tom Homan, who led Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on an interim basis during his first term, a key role in implementing his flagship promise of mass deportation. illegal immigrants.
The one that Donald Trump now presents as the border tsar
had been a leading advocate of the policy of separating migrant families at the southern border.
The president-elect also chose former representative Lee Zeldin, another of his allies, to lead the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). His mandate will be to carry out rapid deregulation for the benefit of companies, particularly those in the oil sector, and to repudiate Joe Biden's legacy in the fight against climate change.
