Trump Names Former AG Matthew Whitaker as US Ambassador to NATO

Matthew Whitaker, former acting U.S. attorney general, speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference 2020 hosted by the American Conservative Union in National Harbor, Md., on Feb. 28, 2020. Samuel Corum/Getty Images

President-elect Donald Trump announced on Nov. 20 that he has chosen former acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker to be the U.S. ambassador to NATO.

In a statement released on social media, the president-elect said Whitaker was selected because he is a “strong warrior and loyal patriot, who will ensure the United States’ interests are advanced and defended.”

“[Whitaker will] strengthen relationships with our NATO allies, and stand firm in the face of threats to peace and stability,” Trump said.

Whitaker, he also suggested, will promote Trump’s “peace through strength” foreign policy agenda.

Other than Whitaker, Trump selected former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to be his U.S. ambassador to Israel and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. All three roles require confirmation in the Senate unless Trump opts to use recess appointments.

Whitaker, who was a tight end on the University of Iowa’s football team, started his role as acting attorney general in November 2018 before leaving in February 2019, after Attorney General Jeff Sessions resigned at then-President Trump’s request.

Before that, he served as the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Iowa between 2004 and 2009. Later, he was Sessions’s chief of staff from October 2017 until November 2018.

So far, Whitaker has not publicly commented on Trump’s announcement.

Since leaving office, Whitaker has frequently appeared on Fox News, giving his opinions on the many legal issues Trump has faced since he left the White House in early 2021.

About two weeks ago, he told Fox News that he believes Trump should be granted a “clean slate” from his legal cases, following Trump’s election win on Nov. 5.

He was also asked in that segment whether he might serve as Trump’s attorney general. However, Trump last week named former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) to be his attorney general, although some Republican senators have signaled in media interviews that Gaetz’s nomination may turn into a protracted, uphill battle.

Earlier this week, Whitaker wrote on social media platform X that “weaponization of the” Department of Justice will be “rooted out once and for all” under Trump.

As ambassador to NATO, also known as the U.S. permanent representative to NATO, Whitaker will be tasked with advancing the United States’ foreign policy interests within the 32-member military alliance.

“The permanent representative helps formulate and articulate the U.S. position on NATO security matters as well as U.S. policy toward NATO. At National Security Council (NSC) meetings, they outline U.S. policy toward NATO and potential opportunities for cooperation with NATO allies,” the Council on Foreign Relations states. “They further advise NSC participants on the positions and actions of other NATO member states.”

In the past two years, NATO allowed both Finland and Sweden to join its ranks in the midst of the Russia–Ukraine war, which started in February 2022. Members of NATO, including the United States, have been continually supplying Ukrainian troops with weapons in the conflict.

The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv closed down on Nov. 20 after it received “specific information of a potential significant air attack” and after Russia’s Ministry of Defense claimed that Ukraine used U.S.-made long-range army tactical missile systems to strike its territory for the first time since the war began.

On the campaign trail, Trump has said that he wants to quickly end the war in Ukraine after taking office. A member of Trump’s transition team and his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., claimed on social media that the current administration provided the missile systems to Ukraine to “get World War 3 going.”