Waltz is an Afghanistan War veteran who served in the U.S. Army from 1996-2000 and the Army Reserves from 2000-2023. He is a former U.S. Army Green Beret.

Mr Waltz was in the hawkish, internationalist camp, at least by virtue of his background. The former Green Beret once worked for Dick Cheney, the bête noire of isolationist conservatives.

Though the Green Beret and former congressman has styled himself as a Trump acolyte, he has the kind of foreign policy expertise that seems rarer by the day on the new MAGA right.