House Rep. Elise Stefanik as U.N. Ambassador to the United Nations: A Trump Rebuke of Trumpian Politics
“I am honored to nominate Chairwoman Elise Stefanik to serve in my Cabinet as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Elise is an incredibly strong, tough, and smart America First fighter,” Trump said in a statement.
Two years later, Stefanik became chair of the House Republican Conference in 2021 after Liz Cheney was ousted from that post for her rebuke of Trumpian politics. She was at the forefront of congressional hearings over antisemitism on college campuses last winter, grilling the presidents of Harvard and University of Pennsylvania, as she was a strong supporter of Israel over the war in Gaza.
The nomination requires Senate confirmation, which Stefanik is expected to easily pick up. Republicans have won control of the Senate. Under New York state law, Gov. Kathy Hochul must call a special election within 10 days of a vacancy. It is a safe seat in the Republican Party.
That brand of politics also was shown in her criticism of Trump when the leaked Access Hollywood tape came out in 2016, saying he had made “inappropriate, offensive comments.”
Source: Trump taps House Rep. Elise Stefanik as U.N. ambassador
A Conversation with Rubio on Trump, Russia, and the Middle East, and The Status of the Cuban-American Ambassador to the United States
During Trump’s Republican primary fight, Haley was the only one who didn’t win the election and served as one of his UN ambassadors. But in a post on Truth Social, Trump confirmed that Haley would not be joining his administration.
According to a source, the president-elect is going to give the secretary of state position to Marco. If confirmed, Rubio would become the first Latino to ever serve as the nation’s top diplomat.
Rubio said that voters should not back Trump in 2016, saying, “Friends do not let friends vote for a con artist.” But he ultimately supported Trump that year, and since then, Rubio’s support has only grown stronger as he endorsed the president-elect both in 2020 and 2024. Rubio even helped Trump prepare for his debate against President Biden in 2020.
ongoing conflicts with Russia and Ukraine, Israel and Hamas, and tensions with China and Iran are some of the issues that the Trump administration may have to deal with.
The son of Cuban immigrants, Marco is the first Cuban American to ever be elected to the US Senate. During his time in the Senate, he became a key voice in debates over foreign policy. During his time as a senator, he advocated for intervention in Libya and criticized then-president Trump for withdrawing from Syria and Afghanistan.
“We’re entering into an era of pragmatic foreign policy in which the world is rapidly changing,” Rubio said in an interview with CNN. “Adversaries are uniting — North Korea, Iran, China, Russia [are] increasingly coordinating — it’s going to require us to be very pragmatic and wise and how we invest overseas and what we do.
Despite holding more traditionally interventionist views on foreign policy more broadly, Rubio was among a block of senators who voted against military aid for Ukraine, which ultimately passed in April.
The stalemate which is caused by military funding needs to be solved if we are to have a chance at negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.
A harmonious relationship has not always been enjoyed by Trump and his friend. The two poked jabs at each other. Trump liked to call Rubio “Little Marco,” and things got topsy-turvy when Rubio made insinuations about Trump, saying, “Have you seen his hands? … They say about men with small hands. To which Trump responded, “I guarantee you there’s no problem.”
