Trump’s national security adviser: Those who take US hostages may get ‘a bullet in the damn forehead’

US President-elect Donald Trump’s national security adviser pick warns that those who take American hostages will think twice come January 20 because the costs will outweigh the benefits.

In a podcast interview with conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, Rep. Mike Waltz notes that the four remaining American hostages held by Hamas in Gaza have been held longer than the captives during the Iranian hostage crisis in 1979.

“That’s totally unacceptable, and I think writ large, there has never been enough consequences,” says Waltz. “That’s what we need to be talking about with these people. [If] You take an American,… There is going to be all hell to pay. There are going to be nothing but consequences for you financially, and maybe even a bullet in your damn forehead.”

“The next time you think about it… a lot of these groups are going to say, ‘Woah, it’s just not worth it under Donald Trump,'” he predicts.

WATCH: @realDonaldTrump’s incoming national security adviser Mike Waltz warns the world:

“You take an American, you illegally detain them, if you're a nation state or if you're a terrorist, you hold them hostage there is going to be all hell to pay! There are going to be nothing… pic.twitter.com/PAMKFnLKbO

— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) December 22, 2024

“If the bad guys are incentivized to take more because they keep getting more, then they’re going to keep doing it. If the bad guys feel nothing but cost and pain for taking our people, they’re going to stop doing it,” Waltz summarizes.

Later in the interview, the top Trump aide hails Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in particular for the operation that simultaneously detonated Hezbollah’s communication devices en masse in what resulted in the maiming of thousands of its operatives.

“There’s going to be some amazing movie about that one day — one of the gutsiest, most effective covert action ops in modern history. Because of that, taking down Hezbollah, [which] everybody said couldn’t be done and would be too provocative — [it] expos[ed] Iran’s air defenses so that they literally are naked right now and on their back foot,” Waltz says, adopting much of the talking points used by Netanyahu and adding that Hamas is now isolated more than ever.

“Hamas has every exit blocked except one, and that’s to release our hostages if you want to live,” he says.