Trump taps Stefanik to be UN ambassador
By Katharine Jackson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Donald Trump has chosen Republican U.S. Representative Elise Stefanik to serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, the president-elect said on Monday.
“I am honored to nominate Chairwoman Elise Stefanik to serve in my Cabinet as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Elise is an incredibly strong, tough, and smart America First fighter,” Trump said in a statement.
Stefanik, 40, a Harvard-educated lawmaker from New York state and Republican Conference chair in the House of Representatives, has been a fierce Trump ally. She said in a post on X that she had accepted the nomination.
“The work ahead is immense as we see antisemitism skyrocketing coupled with four years of catastrophically weak U.S. leadership that significantly weakened our national security and diminished our standing in the eyes of both allies and adversaries,” Stefanik said.
“I stand ready to advance President Donald J. Trump’s restoration of America First peace through strength leadership on the world stage on Day One at the United Nations,” she said.
Stefanik’s nomination is subject to Senate approval, which is expected after her fellow Republicans regained control of the upper chamber in last week’s elections.
The United Nations has been planning for Trump’s return and the cuts to U.S. funding and engagement with the world body that are likely to come with his second four-year term as president.
A U.S. retreat at the U.N. could open the door for China, which has been building its influence in global diplomacy and, like the United States, is one of the five permanent members on the U.N. Security Council.
Trump has offered few specifics about foreign policy in his second term but supporters say the force of his personality and his “peace through strength” approach will help bend foreign leaders to his will. He has vowed to solve the war in Ukraine and is expected to give strong support to Israel in its conflicts with Hamas and Hezbollah in Gaza and southern Lebanon.
Among the top concerns at the U.N. are whether the United States will decide to contribute less money to the 193-member world body and withdraw from key multinational institutions and agreements, including the World Health Organization and the Paris climate agreement. During Trump’s first term, the U.S. withdrew from the climate accord and announced plans to leave the WHO.
Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon congratulated Stefanik on her nomination on Monday. “At a time when hate and lies fill the halls of the U.N., your unwavering moral clarity is needed more than ever. Wishing you success in standing firm for truth and justice,” he said in a post on X.
Stefanik took a Republican leadership position in the House in 2021 when she was elected to replace then-Representative Liz Cheney, who was ousted for criticizing Trump’s continued false claims of election fraud.
Stefanik’s first turn in the national limelight came when she mounted an impassioned defense of Trump at his first impeachment trial in 2019, leading the then-president to declare “a star is born.” She garnered headlines again last December when she asked university presidents tough questions about campus antisemitism during congressional hearings on pro-Palestinian protests.
At age 30, Stefanik was the youngest woman ever elected to Congress when in 2014 she first won her district, which had voted twice for Democratic President Barack Obama and had been represented by Democrats in Congress since 1993.
She was seen as a potential vice president pick for Trump before he selected Senator J.D. Vance.
Stefanik will succeed President Joe Biden’s U.N. ambassador, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, a 35-year veteran of the U.S. Foreign Service who served on four continents, most notably in Africa.
During Trump’s first term in office, Nikki Haley and Kelly Craft served as U.N. ambassadors. Trump said on Saturday that former 2024 Republican presidential contender Haley will not be asked to join his administration.
Trump is meeting with potential candidates to serve in his administration before his Jan. 20 inauguration as president.
(Reporting by Katharine Jackson and Michelle Nichols; Additional reporting by David Morgan; Editing by Ros Russell, Andrea Ricci and Jonathan Oatis)
