STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
We do not quite know if Republicans will keep control of the House. Several dozen races are not yet called. Those watching especially closely include Republican Representative Michael Waltz of Florida, who serves on the House committees on military and intelligence matters, and he joins us once again by Skype. Congressman, welcome back.
MICHAEL WALTZ: Hey. Good to be with you, Steve, and what a heck of a week.
INSKEEP: It has been a heck of a week. Congratulations to your side. And I want to ask about that, because election winners sometimes claim a big mandate and occasionally will also say, listen, I'm humble here. I know this was a vote against the other guy and the way things were going, and I want to be humble about it. So what do you think the electorate is really telling you?
WALTZ: Well, I do think it was - I mean, it was quite the decisive win. Looks like we're on track - President Trump is on track - for all seven swing states.
INSKEEP: Yep.
WALTZ: So, you know, one of the narratives that we heard coming in was how just absolutely divisive this would be. It would come down to every single voter. And this, I do believe, is a mandate. And it's a mandate to go back to the policies that were working just a few years ago on the border, on the economy and certainly in foreign affairs, where again, Steve, we talked about just a few years ago, we were literally signing peace deals on the White House lawn.
INSKEEP: Now, we hear a toddler in the background, and if you need to go away and take care of that little guy, you tell me. It's totally fine. And I'm glad he is joining us, and I bet he has good analysis. Anyway, I want to note that President-elect Trump has spoken against the establishment, if you will, or enemies within, the deep state, whatever. There is a defense establishment. There are intelligence agencies. There's a foreign policy apparatus. How do you hope that he will approach them this time?
WALTZ: Well, I do think we need a culture change in how we approach our defense establishment, on how we buy things within the Pentagon. We still have a Pentagon that cannot audit itself, despite years and years of trying the basics of understanding where every tax dollar goes. It seems - I can go through the weapons systems. They just, over and over again, cost twice as much, deliver half as much and take twice as long as originally planned. And there is a whole slew of new technologies from Silicon Valley and elsewhere that are really chomping at the bit to help with our defense and security issues, and they can't break through the bureaucracy. So I think we do need new leadership. We need a culture change. We need to focus the Defense Department on being the meritocracy that it has always been, where we just simply have the best of the best.
INSKEEP: You raise an interesting point. I've heard...
WALTZ: I'm excited that all of those things will be a focus...
INSKEEP: Yeah.
WALTZ: ...Of a new administration.
INSKEEP: I mean, I've heard Army officials talk about how you can get better drone technology in commercial settings than you can from the Defense Department, so I understand what you're saying there. Would you have the president then listen to experts rather than his own instinct?
WALTZ: Well, I think you'll see a bit of both. I mean, for example, his instinct was, a few years ago, you can't be number one on Earth if you're number two in space. Our entire economy depends on those constellations, and certainly our military, yet we had very little to defend it. He demanded the creation of the Space Force. Steve, everybody laughed and mocked, and Netflix had its series with Steve Carell. And yet he turned out to be quite prescient and quite right. He left it to the experts to how to establish it, but his instinct was we needed a force focused on defending what we have up there. So you'll see a bit of both, as you have with so many things. His instinct was that NAFTA was not serving our manufacturing base and our middle class in Middle America. He said he wanted a new trade deal. Again, everybody kind of mocked. And we ended up with USMCA, the new trade deal, which he actually got done with Speaker Pelosi in charge in the Congress. In the middle of impeachment, he still got that new trade deal done. So we can go down the list, but I think, the end of the day, people voted for the policies that were actually affecting her - their lives, and not necessarily the rhetoric that, frankly, the media likes to obsess on.
INSKEEP: What discussions, if any, have you had about joining the administration, which I mention in these last 20 seconds because the president-elect has mentioned you?
WALTZ: Well, Steve, you know, we haven't had any, to be honest with you. He's very superstitious. He was focused on seven swing states and the next rally. But look - the president of the United States calls, you have to take that very seriously. But right now, I'm thrilled with getting reelected to serve my seat another two years.
INSKEEP: Congressman Mike Waltz, thanks.
WALTZ: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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