President Trump has chosen Heather Nauert to replace Nikki Haley as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, three sources with knowledge of the decision told CBS News. Nauert is currently the spokeswoman for the State Department.
Mr. Trump is expected to make the announcement Friday morning.
Nauert has been on the short list for ambassador to the U.N. since Haley announced that she was stepping down from her post in October. Formerly a Fox News anchor, she came to the administration in 2017. She will have to be confirmed by the Senate to become ambassador to the U.N.
Nauert’s appointment was first reported by Bloomberg.
Although some have speculated that Haley may challenge Mr. Trump in 2020, Haley has said that she will support the president.
“I can promise you what I will be doing is campaigning for this one. So I look forward to supporting the president in the next election,” Haley said at a press conference while sitting next to Mr. Trump.
If Heather Nauert is appointed and confirmed, she takes the position at a rough time for the U.N. because the Trump administration has cut funding of many programs and withdrawn from several international agreements.
Nauert would become the U.S. top multilateral negotiator as the the powerful 15-nation Security Council is stymied on many of the world’s biggest crises, including non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, the conflict in Syria, on how to handle North Korea, on Russian aggression in Ukraine, on the Middle East, and most recently on the crisis in Yemen, CBS News’ Pamela Falk reports from the U.N.
The U.N. has had several female ambassadors from the U.S. The post is not always a Cabinet-level position.
