Mr. Walz has worked hard to build his standing among the president's supporters, while disappointing his former allies and failing to convince new ones.
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Michael Walz (center) has become too Trumpist for his former Republican allies in Washington's political class, but not Trumpist enough for the president's supporters.
Stephen K. Bannon, one of President Trump’s top allies, hosted a party at his Capitol Hill townhouse in January for Breitbart News Washington bureau chief Matt Boyle. The usual guests from the far-right media ecosystem were there in full force, but one attendee stood out: Trump’s national security adviser, Michael Walz.
Mr. Waltz, who posed for photos with Mr. Bannon, Mr. Boyle and others, was brought in as part of an effort to rehabilitate him in an administration that was just eight days old. He found himself in a quandary that many Trump aides faced in the previous administration: He had become too Trumpist for his former Republican allies in the Washington political class, but not Trumpist enough for the president’s ardent supporters.
Even as Mr. Waltz is in the middle of cease-fire talks between Ukraine and Russia, several people close to Mr. Trump now wonder whether Mr. Waltz will become one of the administration’s first casualties. Others speculate that Mr. Waltz’s determination to align himself with Mr. Trump will save him from the fate that befell three of the president’s four first-term national security advisers.
“Mike understands the chain of command, which gives him an advantage over H.R. McMaster and John Bolton, who were there to implement their own agendas,” said Ezra Cohen, who served on the National Security Council and in the Pentagon during the first Trump administration. “He knows his job is to carry out the president’s policies.”
A case in point is Mr. Waltz's response to Mr. Trump's televised criticism of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office last month.
Two days later, on CNN, Mr. Waltz said Mr. Zelensky had been “incredibly disrespectful” and doubted that he was “willing to make peace.” The day before, on Breitbart Radio, Mr. Waltz compared Mr. Zelensky to “an ex-girlfriend who wants to dispute everything you said nine years ago instead of pursuing the relationship.”
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