President Trump’s choice for UN ambassador withdraws
WASHINGTON – Heather Nauert, President Donald Trump’s pick to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, withdrew her name from consideration on Saturday amid concerns about her qualifications for the high-profile post.
Nauert, a former Fox News host who now serves as the State Department’s spokesperson, cited the strain on her family in announcing her decision.
“I am grateful to President Trump and Secretary Pompeo for the trust they placed in me for considering me for the position of U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations,” Nauert said in a statement. “However, the past two months have been grueling for my family and therefore it is in the best interest of my family that I withdraw my name from consideration,” she said.
Critics had sharply questioned Trump’s appointment of Nauert, saying she did not have the foreign policy experience or political skills needed for such a key diplomatic job. Trump’s first U.N. ambassador, exSouth Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, left at the end of last year.
Nauert has served as the State Department’s chief spokeswoman since April 2017, winning Trump over with her polished, camera-ready defense of his “America First” approach to foreign policy. She has also earned the trust of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, traveling the globe with the former Kansas congressman and ex-CIA director.
But experts noted that Nauert would have been one of the most inexperienced U.N. ambassadors in history – at a time of extreme flux in international relations. Since taking office, Trump has picked major foreign policy fights with key U.S. allies, including Canada and France, while praising authoritarian regimes in Russia, North Korea and Saudi Arabia.
There were “significant concerns” on Capitol Hill about her abilities to handle complex negotiations with other world powers, said Brett Bruen, a former State Department foreign service officer who served in the Obama administration on global engagement. “Basically, folks in the Senate couldn’t see her doing battle successfully with the Russians (and the) Chinese.”
The U.N. job involves representing the United States at the U.N. Security Council and in delicate diplomatic negotiations with other world leaders. Previous U.N. ambassadors include Adlai Stevenson, George H.W. Bush and Madeleine Albright.
“Her only real foreign policy is this stint at the State Department in a kind of spokesperson role,” David Bosco, a professor of international relations at Indiana University, told USA TODAY when Trump first announced his choice of Nauert. “As I look at who we have had in this position over the decades, I think Nauert would be one of the least prepared for this position.”