STATUS OF TRUMP’S NOMINATIONS FOR AMBASSADORSHIPS

As soon as  Trump took office, he ordered all of Obama’s Political-Appointee Ambassadors to depart immediately. The Career Ambassadors were left in place, but the departure of the political ones has left 54 of 189 Ambassadorships vacant. Of the 10 Ambassadors Trump has formally nominated, only two are career officers and are being sent to Senegal and Congo. The eight political appointees have few foreign policy credentials but a clear political connection to Trump.

Nominees

1.  David Friedman, the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, was Trump’s bankruptcy lawyer. 
2.  Scott Brown, nominated as Ambassador to New Zealand, was said to have embraced the role of cheerleader for Trump during the campaign.
3. William Francis Hagerty IV, a wealthy Tennessee businessman and nominee for Ambassador to Japan, was finance director for the Trump campaign in Tennessee and worked for  the Trump transition team.
4. Terry Branstad, Governor of Iowa, is now Ambassador to China. He has a long-term relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping, based on frequent trips to China to sell Iowa pork and other products there. Branstad’s son ran Trump’s campaign in Iowa.
5. Doug Manchester will be going to the Bahamas. Like Trump, Manchester is a billionaire real estate developer; he was also a Trump supporter and fundraiser during the campaign.
6. Nikki Haley was appointed Ambassador to the United Nations.
7. Callista Gingrich is nominee as Ambassador to the Vatican. Her husband, former House speaker Newt Gingrich, was an early Trump enthusiast. While she has no foreign policy experience, she meets the only real requirement for the job. Although the Constitution says there shall be no religious test for any government job, she, like her predecessors, is a Catholic.
8. K.T. McFarland, a former Fox News commentator, was nominated as Ambassador to Singapore. She was hired by Michael Flynn to be his deputy national security adviser. When he left, her days were numbered.

Potential Nominees

1. San Diego developer Doug Manchester The Bahamas.
2. Woody Johnson, the owner of the New York Jets and a top Republican fundraiser, as Ambassador to the United Kingdom, along with a few others. The assignments must be confirmed by the Senate.
3. Kelly Knight, part of a dynamo fundraising couple with coal magnate Joe Craft, is close to being named as Ambassador to Canada. Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, a top Trump ally, has also expressed interest in the position, according to a second person with knowledge of her interest.
4. Lew Eisenberg, the most recent finance chair of the Republican National Committee, is reportedly under consideration to be Ambassador to Italy.
5. Eddie Crawford, an Ohio fundraiser, is considered a frontrunner for Ireland.
6. Former GOP Rep. Pete Hoeksta, is eyeing an assignment to the Netherlands.
7. Morris Goldfarb, a New York businessman close with Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, is said to be courting a posting.
8. Duke Buchan, a Florida investor,has expressed interest in being named Ambassador to Spain. But Buchan may encounter some vetting "problems," according to a person familiar with the discussions, and a possible backup could be Janet Kafka, a wealthy marketing executive from Dallas.
9. Jon Huntsman, the former Utah Governor and Ambassador to China, is in talks to serve as the American representative in Russia.
10. Former Republican Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison is tipped as US envoy to NATO.
11. Jeff Loria, Miami Marlins owner is being considered for France
12. Republican Party mega donor Georgette Mosbacher is being considered for the Ambassador post to Luxembourg.

The use of ambassadorships to reward supporters is an often lamented practice. For example, in a report last year on ways to make the State Department more effective, the Heritage Foundation urged that the process of selecting Ambassadors should ‘ensure that all candidates for ambassadorial appointments are qualified.’ It added that the process ‘should not devolve into rewarding political supporters’ or ‘succumb to political patronage and reward unqualified individuals with plum posts in desirable locations.’