Trump nominates ambassador to Canada

WASHINGTON— Aldona Z. Wos, a former Manhattan physician, Republican fundraiser and North Carolina lawmaker who once was George W. Bush’s ambassador to Estonia, has been nominated by U.S. President Donald Trump as the next American emissary to Canada, the White House announced Tuesday.

Once confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Wos — currently the vice-chair of the president’s commission on White House fellowships — would succeed former ambassador Kelly Craft, who decamped in August to become Trump’s envoy to the United Nations.

In addition to her time as a diplomat and a high-powered fundraiser for Bush, Wos earned her political stripes around the cabinet table in North Carolina as the state’s secretary of health and human services before stepping down in 2015.

She also serves on the Duke University law school board of visitors, the board of directors of the Council of American Ambassadors and the Institute of World Politics.

While the timing of her Senate confirmation remains to be determined, the nomination could help push Prime Minister Justin Trudeau toward appointing a permanent Canadian ambassador to the U.S., where Kirsten Hillman has been serving as acting ambassador since David MacNaughton resigned the post last summer. Speculation about MacNaughton’s ultimate successor has been rampant for months.