Trump nominates House Representative Elise Stefanik as UN ambassador: NPR

President-elect Trump has offered House Representative Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., the role of U.N. ambassador.

“I am honored to nominate Chairwoman Elise Stefanik to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations in my Cabinet. Elise is an incredibly strong, tough and smart America First fighter,” Trump said in a statement.

Stefanik, the highest-ranking Republican in the House of Representatives, has been a key ally of Trump over the years and is believed to have been his running mate for vice president in the presidential election.

The nomination requires Senate confirmation, which Stefanik is expected to receive easily. After the election, Republicans now have control of the Senate. New York state law requires Gov. Kathy Hochul to call a special election within 10 days of a vacancy. Stefanik’s seat is considered a safe Republican seat.

The news was first reported by CNN over the weekend.

When Stefanik was elected to represent New York’s 21st District in 2014, she was at the time the youngest woman elected to Congress in American history. Previously, Stefanik started in politics as a moderate conservative, working for George W. Bush and Mitt Romney; Paul Ryan was her mentor at one point in her career.

This type of politics was also evident in their criticism of Trump when this leaked out Access Hollywood In 2016, a tape emerged saying he had made “inappropriate, offensive comments.”

But Stefanik has quickly risen into Trump’s circle in recent years. She was one of Trump’s strongest defenders during his impeachment hearings in 2019. She questioned the results of the 2020 election, supported election lies and supported a lawsuit that sought to invalidate President Biden’s victory.

Two years later, Stefanik became chairman of the House Republican Conference in 2021 after Liz Cheney was ousted from the post for her criticism of Trump’s policies. Since then, Stefanik has been a vocal defender of Israel in the Gaza war and was at the forefront of congressional hearings on campus anti-Semitism last winter, where she denounced the presidents of the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who was Trump’s strongest opponent during the 2024 Republican primary, held the post of U.N. ambassador under his first administration. But in a post on Truth Social, Trump confirmed that Haley would not be joining his administration.