Read the full transcript of Just the News' interview with National Security Advisor Mike Waltz

National Security Advisor Mike Waltz on Tuesday gave a wide-ranging interview on the Just the News, No Noise television show, where he touched on multiple issues related to national security, including the Trump administration's responses to China, Russia and Iran.

Read the full transcript of the interview below:  

John Solomon:

All right, folks, we're gonna kick off tonight's show with a man who has spent his entire adult life in service of his country, three decades in the US Army as a Green Beret, rising to the rank of colonel, a winner of a Bronze Star, and then he went to Congress, served the great constituents of Florida, and today he serves President Trump as his National Security Advisor. We're very lucky to be joined by Mike Waltz. Mike, good to have you on, sir.

National Security Advisor Mike Waltz:

Hey, thanks, John. Always, always good to be with you, and thanks for fighting for the truth and for America.

John Solomon:

Yeah, we're very lucky to do so, and very lucky to have you on you're on the front lines of all these important security issues. Let me start with the announcement that came out of the White House earlier today that the stage is set for a deal with China. Give us some sense of what that might look like. How's the engagement been with Beijing. And is this limited to trade, or could it also involve issues like Taiwan?

National Security Advisor Mike Waltz:

Yeah, John, you know the president, President Trump, is the dealmaker in chief. I mean, he truly defines the art of the deal. And for too long, I saw this in Congress. We see this in middle America. Our manufacturing has been gutted. Our jobs go abroad. We have critical, critical supply chains that need to come home to the United States, and that's what the President is determined to make happen. He is using tariffs effectively those generate revenue for the American people. Those drive the supply chains back home, and it gives him a platform and leverage, frankly, that only President Trump knows how to do in terms of re-establishing fair trade. And we've seen administration after administration in the past, let the United States and let the American worker, you know, not get the better in better end of these deals, John, case in point, from pharmaceuticals, critical minerals, our ability to manufacture ships that we need to export our goods from Our farmers to what manufacturers that are. They're still out there manufacturing, even our he just passed an amazing executive order to put up kind of a defibrillator. Back to our ship-building industry. Case in point, China, 1700 new ship orders. The United States, less than a dozen just in the last couple of years. Those are welders, those are electricians, those are steelworkers, that's the iron, that's the aluminum. Those are all the things that we need for our amazing economy, our amazing worker, and that's the kind of thing that will be negotiated by President Trump's economic team, but with huge national security implications, with President Trump leading the charge.

John Solomon:

Such a historic opportunity. Has the engagement with China over the last few weeks been good solid? Is there good conversations going on behind the scenes?

National Security Advisor Mike Waltz:

Well, they're certainly reaching out, John. That's because what President Trump knows is that they need our markets. They want us to purchase goods. President Trump knows how to use leverage. At the same time, he'll have a good relationship with these heads of state. He'll have a relationship with President Xi, with leaders around the world. He understands that you have to have that good, strong personal interaction. You can be tough. You can be tough in talks. Be tough in negotiations. President Trump's absolutely tough. I haven't seen anybody who has the kind of instincts that he has. But at the same time, get to a deal and get to a deal that has America first and is good for the American people.

John Solomon:

That's so important. The other big giant in the Asia Pacific region is India. A lot of progress here. A great state visit by Prime Minister Modi. Here, I understand today there have been very significant conversations, including between the President and Prime Minister Modi. Can you bring us up to date on how things are progressing on that front?

National Security Advisor Mike Waltz:

Well, there was, sadly, a terrorist attack in India that killed dozens of people. The President and Prime Minister Modi have a great relationship. He was one of the first leaders that came to see the president in the White House. It is a crucial, crucial relationship, the world's largest democracy and the world's oldest democracy. But they've also had some, some, you know, some very realistic and tough engagements on trade. We have to, we have to lower their barriers for our markets. At the same time they're buying our defense equipment, they are shifting in terms of coming more towards the United States. And so all of those things are in play. But today's call was really about condemning terrorism, making sure that the people of India and Prime Minister Modi know that President Trump and the United States of America stand with him.

John Solomon:

Yeah, all of our hearts go out to those who lost loved ones saying Kashmir was a really tragic, tragic guy. It is a terrible moment. Sir, the President's begun laying out a concrete plan for peace between Ukraine and Russia, something that was never possible during the Biden years. Can you give us the latest on where those talks stand and what are some of the key pillars that could become part of a deal?

National Security Advisor Mike Waltz:

Well, I think if a couple of the key pillars are going to be the discussions around the territory, discussions around making sure that this doesn't happen again, as President Trump rightly has said over and over again, this war should have never happened and did not happen in his first term. It happened President it happened under President Obama, who literally threw blankets and sheets at the problem. President Trump actually armed Ukraine to try to prevent it from happening. And then it happened under Biden. President Trump, in his second term, is determined to end the killing, to stop the fighting. This is the largest land war in Europe that, again, shouldn't have happened in the first place. And we have to, you know, we have to ask ourselves, who can oppose a president who is trying to use diplomacy, use negotiations, and talk about those key issues to end this war that is killing 1000s of people per day. That's one piece. And then the other piece is Europe has to step up for its own security needs. The United States has obligations all over the world, but most importantly, has obligations to its fellow Americans. And I could tell you, when President Trump was in his first term, literally a little more than half a dozen countries were meeting their 2% bare minimum that doubled under his first term. He is going to continue demanding 5% of their GDP heading into a big NATO Summit this year, and that's when you look at countries like Canada, who a decade ago, committed to do the minimum. 2% still isn't there, and is saying a decade from now, it will be at the minimum. President Trump is saying, no, you need makeup money, so to speak. You need to all be at 5% and you know, a key pillar of this is that Europe take the lead for Europe's security.

John Solomon:

Yeah, that'd be a historic moment. Already historic progress on the front but getting to that next phase will really be historic for the American economy. So I want to turn a little bit to an issue that we all understand.

National Security Advisor Mike Waltz:

By the way, John, I mean, it isn't easy to end these conflicts. You hear a lot of criticism and chirping from the mainstream media, from the DC swamp, but you don't hear a lot of solutions. Biden never really set out what is victory. President Trump says, you know what, ending the killing is his goal, and that's what he's determined to do. But you know, you know, you have a lot of people criticizing, not a lot of people offering real solutions, though.

John Solomon:

Like they're rooting for it to go on instead of the success that a piece would bring. It is really remarkable. We're all familiar with the threat that terrorism is bringing, but it doesn't really get covered a lot in the media these days, but the world that the administration inherited was really far more dangerous and chaotic than the one President Trump left behind in '21 especially with the resurgence of Iranian-backed terrorists like Hezbollah, Hamas Houthis. Can you give us an update on the sense and scope of efforts to neutralize our threats? There seems to have been an enormous number of neutralizations in recent weeks?

National Security Advisor Mike Waltz:

Yeah, I can tell you, from ISIS to al Qaeda, to groups like Al Shabaab, all who have plots and plans to hit the homeland once again. And if you look under the Biden administration, with a wide open border, that was incredibly dangerous, President Trump has eliminated 74 named terrorist leaders. Wow. That, that the Biden administration wasn't going after that's incredible. You add to that 45 Americans who are being held hostage by various regimes and groups around the world that he's brought home. That is just an incredible achievement in just a couple of months. And that's everything from Special Envoy Witkoff, our amazing Secretary of State, Rubio, the rebuilding of the American military so that we have a credible deterrent and real strength under Secretary Hegseth, our hostage negotiator at bowler. So it's, you know, it's just a great team that's around the president that's bought into his vision and is getting real results day in and day out. I mentioned the border. By the way, you've got the government of Mexico putting over 10,000 troops on their side of the border, coupled with Secretary Hegseth, folks like Stephen Miller, all under the direction of the president. Me, trying to push everyone in the same direction, not that they need it, but keeping it all coordinated. And we have a 95% drop in border crossings. You couple that with taking the fight to the terrorists overseas. And Americans should sleep better at night. We're only three months in, and look at the results President Trump is getting. The mainstream media doesn't want to talk about it.

John Solomon:

74 is a huge number. Such a huge number. First time I've heard that's such an important fact to have for all of us. I want to talk a little bit about an upcoming trip to the Middle East. The president has announced that there's a lot of excitement. It seems like the stage might be set for Abraham Accords, 2.0 with Saudi Arabia, maybe some other countries. Tell us what you hope to achieve on this next trip.

National Security Advisor Mike Waltz:

Well, look it. It is really stepping back into resetting the Middle East under Biden, you saw the worst violence against Israel with the October 7 attack in nearly 20 years. You saw the Houthis shutting down shipping, firing on our own warships dozens and dozens of times, with pin prick attacks back and global shipping being shut down in the Red Sea, the Suez Canal, with really, him doing nothing about it. You know, you saw violence exploding in terms of attacks on our bases. President Trump is taking that all on and getting real results. What we want to see under this next term is a return to peace. The more we're talking about trillions of dollars in investments from these countries into the United States of America, things like data centers, AI, rail infrastructure and getting back to having real peace accords, and growing the Abraham accords. That's what President Trump is. He is the president of peace. He's the president of diplomacy, the President of negotiations, and you're going to see that unfold in his overseas trips.

John Solomon:

One of the things that doesn't get a lot of attention, but Saudi Arabia has supported President Trump's efforts to negotiate with Iran, which they never did with Biden. Obama had grave concerns, but they trust President Trump. Tell us a little bit. There seems to be some optimism this weekend coming out of the second or third round of talks with Iran. Tell us what you think is going on and what's possible.

National Security Advisor Mike Waltz:

What President Trump's been crystal clear is that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon, that all options are on the table, but he absolutely prefers making a deal, and we're getting positive indications in that regard. So I'm not going to get ahead of the President or his negotiating team. We're here in full support of his vision. He knows how to use leverage appropriately, and is driving that process look and in line with his goals. So that's the task before us that he has said as commander in chief, and I got to tell you, we're going to make a heck of a lot more progress than you saw in prior administrations, and you're certainly not going to see things like sunset provisions. You know, the Obama deal would have been ending right now. So, you know he is, he's the president of common sense, and we're going to see common sense approaches.

John Solomon:

Yeah, the mere fact that the two sides are talking directly is in itself an extraordinary achievement that hasn't been had in a long time. So really something to look at. So I want to talk a little bit about the way the media covers Secretary hex Seth. If you were reading the newspapers, you'd swear that Secretary Hegseth was on thin ice with the President. You're his quarterback on security. You know his performance better than anywhere when it comes to the defense secretary. Give us your assessment. Is he in any trouble, or is he going to be just fine?

National Security Advisor Mike Waltz:

Now let me tell you something about our Secretary of Defense, I was proud to introduce him at his Senate confirmation hearing. We've known each other for many years. We have when I was a member of Congress, we talked a lot about getting especially under the Biden team, getting the military back to lethality, getting them back to being a meritocracy, getting them back to putting respect and fear into our adversaries so that we can keep the peace through strength. And I'm so proud of him. That's exactly what he's been doing. But guess what? When you shake up the system, the system tends to come after you and look, he is doing a great job from the President. That's for the President. That's the President's word. But more importantly, he's doing a great job for the troops. And as a veteran, as a Green Beret, I still talk to special operators all the time, giving me ground truth in this position, and they couldn't be more thrilled with the leadership of Secretary Hegseth. I said that at the Senate hearing, and I'm saying it again now, and President Trump has said it over and over again, but let me just tell you another thing we have seen, hearing after hearing over the years where everything in going through the Pentagon bureaucracy cost way too much, comes way too late and delivers way too little to our war fighters. Enough is enough, and you hear all of those senators complaining about it, but when you have a change agent coming in and President Trump and his Secretary of Defense, then you see a lot of hands getting thrown up. Well, you know what? We need to reform our bureaucracy. We need to reform the way we buy ships, the way we buy technology. We need to create a military of the future that gives those men and women willing to defend all of us, the training, the equipment and the leadership that they deserve. And you know, I'm proud to see Secretary Hegseth doing all of that. And you know what the swamp is going to? The Swamp is going to react, and that's okay. He is tough, and it only makes him tougher.

John Solomon:

Yeah, he proved that during his confirmation. He's not a guy going to take on easily. He gets things done. So I want to turn we've long since ago, left behind signal, whatever we want to call the signal issue. There are two facts that I think get left out of the mainstream media. I just want to pin them down with you, because I think you know directly this the Biden administration off. Did the Biden administration authorize the use of signal for government officials on sensitive conversation and has the Trump administration take concrete actions to secure sensitive text messages in the future? I don't think yet ignored by the rest of the media. I think you have good answers to both.

National Security Advisor Mike Waltz:

Yeah. Look, it absolutely was authorized by the Biden administration. That's why director Radcliffe, you know, said it was sitting there his first day in office. Why? Because the Chinese were trying to enter, are trying to intercept all of our communications. But here's what the mainstream media doesn't want to talk about. They don't want to talk about the fact that the that initial attack and subsequent attacks on the Houthis, which the Biden administration refused to do, have been phenomenally successful. The Houthis are running scared. They are getting pounded. President Trump made it crystal clear that we have to have open sea lanes, and what they don't want to talk about now is under his leadership, Under Secretary hegsets, leadership, recruiting numbers are going up for the first time. Retention numbers are going up. We're talking about meritocracy and morale and lethality across our military. That is all what people don't want to talk about. But what is the reality of what is of what's happening. So look, it's let's get back to the President's agenda. Enough of those, enough of those distractions, because his agendas delivering results that the American people are are quite pleased with and are definitely safer with.

John Solomon:

Yeah, there's no doubt one of those successes, as you mentioned earlier, all the things that have happened at the border. The border has become more secure quicker than any time in our history. There is tremendous progress made against Ms 13 and Tren de Aragua. Some people have questions about whether Tren de Aragua is really tied to the Maduro administration in Venezuela. I think the FBI thinks so. Some others, maybe not. Can you give us your best assessment of it, whether there are any connections between Tren de Aragua and the Maduro regime?

National Security Advisor Mike Waltz:

Yeah, well, you know, the president designated them a foreign terrorist organization like MS 13 and like the Houthis for that matter, that that Biden had lifted that designation, and there is, I think, no argument and no debate that these that the organizations like trend agua, like MS 13 and others, and the Mexican cartels are terrorizing the American people. They are pumping in chemicals like fentanyl that are killing tens of thousands of Americans across our country every year that President Trump has taken a much tougher approach, working with Kristi Noem, Tom Homan, Stephen Miller, Kash Patel at the FBI, these are the threats the American people are facing, day in and day out, and this is a core of an American first approach. And we know that Maduro is emptying our prisons. Has no problem with these gangs coming into our inner cities. But you've also seen through some some tough action. You've seen Mexico taking people back. You've seen Venezuela taking people back. You saw Columbia try to reject the deportation flights, and within a span of about 12 hours, changed its mind when President Trump threatened tariffs against them. But you've also seen which is important, a much tougher approach on the cartels working with the Mexican government. Look, these cartels control whole swaths of Mexico and our southern border, that is completely unacceptable. And these groups aren't like the mafia. They're more like ISIS. They are combating the Mexican army in full-on-fire fights. They're shooting at aircraft. They deserve all aspects of our national power to be used against them to defend our sovereignty, to defend our borders, and that's why you've seen the Defense Department under Secretary Hegseth and Trump's leadership shift its assets to actually defend America. First of all, of those things, just in a few months, are in train. And then we haven't even talked about the Panama Canal, the first Latin American nation to reject China, to end Belt and Road and to move back in our direction in years. Because why? Because 74% of shipping that's coming in and out of our ports that transits that canal is coming to the United States. These are all critical assets. And when you reintroduce America in our own hemisphere, from the Arctic all the way down to our border, to the Panama Canal and into South America. You see these kind of results.

John Solomon:

It's just remarkable. You're the quarterback that has put all this strategy together. It's really impressive. What's been achieved in less than 90 days. Lack of this question, because a big thing happened today with Marco Rubio, the State Department. We Republicans have been talking about reforming the State Department, I don't know, since before. Ronald Reagan, you got it done today. Just give us your sense of how important that was.

National Security Advisor Mike Waltz:

Well, again, you hear, you know, people talking about it. You hear Congress having hearings about it. This is actually happening under Secretary Rubio, under President Trump. You know, enough is enough with a bureaucracy that kind of exists to support itself that needs to be in line with the President's vision. We are streamlining government across the board, and we finally have taken that step with the President and with the State Department. So this is another great day for the American taxpayer. I think that says we want to see results.

John Solomon:

Yeah, it's an amazing accomplishment, all across the board, all things we talked about would take years in other presidencies. It happens in weeks in this presidency, a lot because of your stewardship of the National Security Council, sir, a great honor to have you on the show today. Thanks for joining us.

National Security Advisor Mike Waltz:

Well, thanks, John. And I just want to, look just one other point, right. This is how at the National Security Council, we have to pull things together if we have some type of cyberattack that's pulling together the FBI, the DOJ, the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, getting the President's guidance, teeing up effective balance decisions for him, getting his common sense approach and then implementing and so whether it's the border, whether it's those types of things, whether it's our policies abroad, on counterterrorism or ending wars, that's what we do. I'm proud to do that and be a part of it, and a part of this amazing cabinet that you know shows up every day, thinking about the American people, thinking about the troops over there that are keeping us safe, saluting this commander in chief and moving out. So yeah, thank you. Thank you for highlighting what the mainstream media doesn't want to do, all these amazing successes in just a short amount of time.

John Solomon:

It is crazy how short a period of time it is, and I suspect that pace is going to keep up as long as you're at the helm, sir. Great honor to have you on today. 

National Security Advisor Mike Waltz:

He's all gas. It's all about him. He is all gas about getting things done.

John Solomon:

Great. Thank you, sir. Great to have you on today. Thanks for joining us. All right, that was great. Fantastic. All right. Thank you, sir. Appreciate you very much. Thanks for joining us. 

National Security Advisor Mike Waltz:

Yep, yep.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.