Top Trump White House pick has strong view on Canada's government. It's not flattering
Trump's choice for national security adviser can't wait to see the Liberals lose next election
The man tapped for the top international role inside the Trump White House isn't just predicting the defeat of Canada's Trudeau government: He's celebrating it.
Mike Waltz has a vast digital footprint on international issues in his six years as a congressman, following careers in business, defence policy, and as a decorated special-forces veteran.
He's been selected by Donald Trump for the powerful position of national security adviser in the next White House, the president-elect confirmed in a statement Tuesday.
His online commentary emphasizes his view that U.S. allies must pull their weight on security issues, including with regards to China, which he views as a serious national-security threat.
Waltz predicts Liberals will lose next election
His unflattering opinion of the Trudeau government is manifest in a string of social media comments over the years, including one happily predicting its demise in the next election.
Earlier this year, he posted a video from Canada's question period where opposition leader Pierre Poilievre ridiculed Trudeau's housing policies.
"This guy is going to send Trudeau packing in 2025 (finally) and start digging Canada out of the progressive mess it's in," Waltz posted on the X social media platform.
"His trolling of Trudeau's nonsense worth a watch!"
This guy is going to send Trudeau packing in 2025 (finally) and start digging Canada out of the progressive mess it’s in. <br><br>His trolling of Trudeau’s nonsense worth a watch! 🇺🇸🇨🇦 <a href="https://t.co/4umBSoxIrv">https://t.co/4umBSoxIrv</a>
—@michaelgwaltzWaltz's criticisms of Trudeau were frequently related to China.
He called Trudeau shameful for abstaining from a vote on Chinese genocide of Muslim Uyghurs. He referred in different social media posts to China interfering in Canada's elections.
"This is a MASSIVE scandal," he said in one post.
He lamented Trudeau's government allowing the sale of a lithium mine to a Chinese-state owned entity. This was two years ago, and Canada has since moved to boot those Chinese state owners from certain critical-minerals sites.
Waltz also complained about Chinese donors pledging $1 million to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation and reportedly wanting to erect a statue of the first Chinese communist leader outside a Montreal university.
The Florida congressman has other connections to Canada.
His other Canadian connection: pipeline business
His wife, Julia Nesheiwat, is a vice president for Calgary-based TC Energy Corp.; it's the energy company formerly known as TransCanada, builder of the ill-fated Keystone XL oil pipeline.
Waltz's social media posts are now a window into a substantive reality awaiting Canada on Jan. 20, when the new administration takes office.
The Trump team is expected to press, aggressively, for allies including Canada to take defence spending and security more seriously.
This will unfold amid threats from Trump to punish all countries, including allies, with trade measures including a minimum 10 per cent tariff on imports.
Canada's argument against those tariffs is expected to include the point that it is a contributor to U.S. security — as a supplier of oil, and potentially minerals, that lessen American dependence on overseas countries, including China.
It's an argument Waltz would presumably know well — given his personal connection to TC Energy.
Waltz also delivered a shoutout to former prime minister Stephen Harper at an international gathering of conservatives in 2022.
His comments about the next Canadian election point to another dynamic looming over the coming months: The question of whether Canada-U.S. talks on sensitive issues, like tariffs and defence spending, will happen mostly before or after Canada's election.
Waltz: NATO allies need to 'step up' defence spending
Waltz holds standard Republican views on some international issues. In fact, he's one of several rumoured appointees with ties to the party's hawkish establishment, to the dismay of some Trump supporters urging a more isolationalist orientation.
He was passionately supportive of helping Ukraine, certainly in the aftermath of Russia's invasion, but, as his party grew more skeptical, he echoed that sentiment.
He's mocked NATO allies for doing the bare minimum in meeting defence spending commitments.
Waltz joked in one post about European countries meeting the two per cent spending target, saying it was like "congratulating the F student on getting a D. We need our allies to step up, instead of letting them off and making American taxpayers foot the bill!"
His track record of commenting on Canada dwarfs that of the rumoured next secretary of state, Sen. Marco Rubio.
In the past, Rubio has frequently mentioned working with Canada in a failed attempt to isolate Venezuela's Maduro government.
That said, he did express dismay about Canada taking in Gazan refugees, recently calling it a national security threat to the U.S. Rubio also once voiced disgust with how warmly Trudeau eulogized Fidel Castro after the Cuban dictator's death in 2016.
"Is this a real statement or a parody?" Rubio, a son of Cuban immigrants, tweeted at the time. "Because if this is a real statement from the PM of Canada it is shameful & embarrassing."
Another nominee for a senior role is even better versed on Canadian issues.
Lawmaker Elise Stefanik, tapped to be Trump's UN ambassador, serves in a border district in New York, is knowledgeable on cross-border files, and used to co-lead a congressional group focused on Canadian affairs before rising to national prominence as an aggressive Trump defender.
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