China remains one of the biggest threats to the United States, but the U.S. can fight the challenge through its markets, fair trade deals, and rebuilding the military, national security adviser Mike Waltz said during a talk Friday at CPAC.
"President [Donald] Trump is who pivoted the whole national security apparatus back in 2017 and 2018 to deal with the threat and the competition that China is," Waltz said in an on-stage interview, which aired on Newsmax. "He firmly believes we can win this economically."
But Trump is already making inroads, including with the Panama Canal, where Panama has said it is finished with allowing China's infiltration, Waltz said.
"Again, it's only been a month, folks," he said. "We told the president, 'You have a full four years. We don't have to get it all done in four weeks.'"
Meanwhile, he added that the administration has threatened to unleash "holy hell" on the cartels in Mexico that are funneling fentanyl — often manufactured with raw components from China — into the United States.
"Enough is enough," Waltz said. "The cartels are on notice. You've seen images of the Mexican army doing joint patrols with our border, with our customs and border police, and with our military to secure the United States border. Because without a border, you don't have a country and you don't have sovereignty."
Trump's team for his second term in office is "200% on board" with his vision, Waltz added.
"We don't have a president that's year one or even year five," he said. "He's year nine and we are building the rocket as we're launching it, and it's just been the honor of my lifetime to be a part of it."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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