Ex-Trump insider and critic: These 2 picks ‘are good for America and the world’

Former White House director of communications Alyssa Farah Griffin has been critical of her former boss, Donald Trump, since she left the administration.
But that doesn’t mean she thinks some of the senior staffers Trump tapped to be in a second administration are bad ones.
“(Rep. Mike Waltz) is objectively a strong pick for Nat’l Security Advisor. He’s a realist on foreign policy, understands America’s role in the world, is a combat veteran. He’s a China hawk & tough on Russia, & Iran. Big sigh of relief for folks who worried Trump would take a totally isolationist posture,” Griffin posted to X.
She added: “Y’all know I’m not a Trump fan but I root for America. Waltz as NSA & Rubio as SecState are good for America & the world.”
Trump has asked Waltz, a retired Army National Guard officer and war veteran, to be his national security adviser, a person familiar with the matter said Monday. The move would put Waltz at the forefront of a litany of national security crises — ranging from the ongoing effort to provide weapons to Ukraine and escalating worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea to the persistent attacks in the Middle East by Iran proxies and the push for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas and Hezbollah.
Waltz, a three-term GOP congressman from east-central Florida, was the first Green Beret elected to the U.S. House, and easily won reelection last week. He has been chairman of the House Armed Services subcommittee on readiness and a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
Trump’s also expected to tap Florida Sen. Marco Rubio as his next secretary of state. Rubio, who was in the running to be vice president, had made it clear that he was interested in potentially joining Trump’s Cabinet.
The Florida senator, a China hawk, was a constant on the campaign trail during Trump’s third presidential run.
He’s been the leading Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Matt Arco may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @MatthewArco.