Trump picks Rep. Mike Waltz, a former Green Beret, as national security adviser: Sources
US Representative (R-FL) Mike Waltz. Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — President-elect Donald Trump has asked Florida Republican Rep. Mike Waltz to be his national security adviser, multiple sources told ABC News.
Waltz is a China hawk and is the first Green Beret elected to Congress. He emerged as a key surrogate for Trump, criticizing the Biden-Harris foreign policy record during the presidential campaign.
Waltz, who was elected to the House in 2018, sits on the Intelligence, Armed Services and Foreign Affairs committees. He also serves on the House China Task Force with 13 other Republicans.
He has supported aid to Ukraine in the past, but has demanded “conditions,” including increased spending from European allies, additional oversight of funds, and pairing the aid with border security measures.
Waltz, a vocal critic of the Biden administration’s policy towards Ukraine who has visited the country, criticized the White House and allies for not providing Ukraine with more lethal aid — such as MiG fighter planes from Poland — earlier in the conflict.
Before running for elected office, Waltz served in various national security policy roles in the George W. Bush administration in the Pentagon and White House. He retired as a colonel after serving 27 years in the Army and the National Guard.
(WASHINGTON) — Former Rep. Matt Gaetz on Monday filed a lawsuit against the House Ethics Committee that investigated him for years, in an effort to stop the committee from releasing its report on their probe into allegations of sexual misconduct and illicit drug use.
“This action challenges the Committee’s unconstitutional and ultra vires attempt to exercise jurisdiction over a private citizen through the threatened release of an investigative report containing potentially defamatory allegations,” the filing from Gaetz says.
Gaetz in the filing asks the court to issue a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction to block the release of the report or any findings, which he says would cause “damage to [his reputation and professional standing” that would be “immediate and severe.”
“The threatened release of information believed to be defamatory by a Congressional committee concerning matters of sexual propriety and other acts of alleged moral turpitude constitutes irreparable harm that cannot be adequately remedied through monetary damages,” the filing states.
Gaetz’s lawsuit highlights that he is now a public citizen and claims he did not receive “proper notice” of the report’s impending release.
“After Plaintiff’s resignation from Congress, Defendants improperly continued to act on its investigation, and apparently voted to publicly release reports and/or investigative materials related to Plaintiff without proper notice or disclosure to Plaintiff,” the complaint states.
Gaetz has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. Following indications last week that the committee would release its report, Gaetz took to X in a lengthy post, writing in part that when he was single he “often sent funds to women” he dated and that he “never had sexual contact with someone under 18.”
“It’s embarrassing, though not criminal, that I probably partied, womanized, drank and smoked more than I should have earlier in life. I live a different life now,” he posted. “I’ve never been charged. I’ve never been sued. Instead, House Ethics will reportedly post a report online that I have no opportunity to debate or rebut as a former member of the body.”
The Justice Department declined to charge him last year after a yearslong investigation into similar allegations.
President-elect Donald Trump last month tapped Gaetz to serve as attorney general in the incoming administration, and Gaetz resigned his congressional seat shortly after. But Gaetz subsequently withdrew his name from consideration, saying his confirmation process was “unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition.”
The Ethics Committee was in the final stages of its probe into Gaetz when Trump tapped him for attorney general. The committee generally drops investigations of members if they leave office, but Gaetz’s resignation prompted a fiery debate on Capitol Hill over whether the panel should release its report to allow the Senate to perform its role of vetting presidential nominations.
The committee initially voted against releasing the report before reversing course, sources said.
US President Joe Biden delivers a Farewell Address to the Nation inside of the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on Wednesday, January 15, 2025. (Photo by Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden, in his farewell address, reflected on a decadeslong political career but also issued a stark warning to the nation as he prepares to cede power to President-elect Donald Trump.
Speaking from behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, Biden said he was proud of what his administration accomplished as the country climbed out of the coronavirus pandemic and made investments in the economy, infrastructure, gun safety, climate change and more.
“In the past four years, our democracy has held strong and every day I’ve kept my commitment to be president for all Americans for one of the toughest periods in our nation’s history,” Biden said.
He commended Vice President Kamala Harris as a “great partner” as she sat nearby alongside second gentleman Doug Emhoff, first lady Jill Biden and Hunter Biden.
Biden listed several of his key legislative wins, including lowering prescription drug prices, expanding benefits for military veterans exposed to burn pits, investing in domestic manufacturing of semiconductor chips and more. The impact of those policies, he noted, may not be fully realized for years to come.
He also briefly highlighted the ceasefire and hostage release deal reached by Israel and Hamas earlier Wednesday, a foreign policy goal of Biden’s for more than a year that became reality just days before his departure.
He touted working with the incoming Trump administration to see through its implementation. “That’s how it should be, working together,” Biden said.
But Biden spent the majority of his remarks on something he said caused him great concern — what he said was the concentration of power in the hands of a few wealthy individuals.
“Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead,” he said.
He spoke about the threat he said the wealthy posed to efforts to fight the dangers of climate change.
“Powerful forces want to wield their unchecked influence, to eliminate the steps we’ve taken to tackle the climate crisis, to serve their own interest for power and profit,” he said. “We must not be bullied into sacrificing the future, the future of our children and our grandchildren, must keep pushing forward and push faster. There’s no time to waste.”
Biden also raised concerns about the rise of artificial intelligence, and the possibilities and dangers advancing technologies posed. He lamented the rise in misinformation online and what he described as a “crumbling” free press that he said were enabling abuses of power.
“In his farewell address, President Eisenhower spoke of the dangers of the military industrial complex,” he said. “He warned us then about, and I quote, ‘the potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power’ … six decades later, I’m equally concerned about the potential rise of a tech-industrial complex that could pose real dangers for our country as well.”
Biden pushed for reforming the tax code so that billionaires pay their “fair share” and for amending the Constitution to make clear that no president is immune from criminal liability — an apparent slight at Trump, who was previously under federal indictment for his behavior after the 2020 election and is set to be sworn into office in five days.
“A president’s powers is not unlimited. It’s not absolute and it shouldn’t be,” Biden said. “And in a democracy, there’s another danger to the concentration of power and wealth. It erodes the sense of unity and common purpose. It causes distrust and division.”
“Participating in our democracy becomes exhausting and even disillusioning,” he continued. “And people don’t feel like they have a fair shot. We have to stay engaged in the process.”
In closing, Biden reflected on his own rise as a kid from Scranton plagued by a stutter to the nation’s highest office — one that he sought repeatedly during his five decades in politics and is leaving reluctantly after withdrawing from the 2024 campaign amid Democrats’ doubts.
He described America’s promise as a “constant struggle.”
“A short distance between peril and possibility,” he said. “But what I believe is the America of our dreams is always closer than we think. And it’s up to us to make our dreams come true.”
Ultimately, Biden asserted, it will be up to the president, Congress, the courts and the American people to stand up to those with ill-intent.
“Now, it’s your turn to stand guard,” Biden said. “May you all be the keeper of the flame. May you keep the faith. I love America, you love it, too.”
(WASHINGTON, DC) — President Joe Biden and his family discussed whether to pardon Hunter Biden during their time together in Nantucket for Thanksgiving, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to ABC News Monday.
Senior White House staff learned of the possibility of a pardon on Saturday evening. President Biden made his final decision on Sunday, the source said.
Biden did not answer questions on the issue as he left late Sunday for a three-day trip to Africa.
Hunter Biden, the president’s only surviving son, was convicted on federal gun-related charges in June and pleaded guilty to nine tax-related charges in September. Both cases carried the possibility of significant prison time and he was set to be sentenced in both later this month.
President Biden had long said he would not pardon his son, including in an interview with ABC’s David Muir as Hunter Biden’s gun trial was underway this past summer.
In his statement on Sunday evening, Biden contended his son was “unfairly” prosecuted after pressure from his political opponents.
“For my entire career I have followed a simple principle: just tell the American people the truth. They’ll be fair-minded. Here’s the truth: I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice — and once I made this decision this weekend, there was no sense in delaying it further,” President Biden said.
Hunter Biden, his wife Melissa Cohen Biden and their son Beau, as well as Ashley Biden, spent Thanksgiving in Nantucket with President Biden and first lady Jill Biden.
“I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision,” the president added.
Republicans, including President-elect Donald Trump, pounced on the reversal.
Congressional Republicans spent years investigating the Biden family, including Hunter Biden, over their business dealings. House Republicans released a report in August on their impeachment probe filled with allegations, many targeted toward Hunter Biden, but no recommendation of specific impeachment articles and no evidence of President Biden himself being directly involved in alleged improper activities.
It’s not clear whether Republicans will continue their probes after President Biden leaves office in January.
House Speaker Mike Johnson on Monday criticized the pardon, which extends as far back as 2014.
“President Biden insisted many times he would never pardon his own son for his serious crimes. But last night he suddenly granted a ‘Full and Unconditional Pardon’ for any and all offenses that Hunter committed for more than a decade!” Johnson wrote on X. “Trust in our justice system has been almost irreparably damaged by the Bidens and their use and abuse of it. Real reform cannot begin soon enough!”
