Trump picks Israel ally Elise Stefanik for UN ambassador

President-elect Donald Trump has picked House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik of New York to be his next ambassador to the United Nations.

“I am honored to nominate Chairwoman Elise Stefanik to serve in my Cabinet as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations,” Trump said. “Elise is an incredibly strong, tough and smart America First fighter.”

With Stefanik, Trump is elevating a fierce critic of the U.N. as his emissary to the world body — the latest sign that he plans to make good on pledges to strongly support Israel on the world stage and play hardball with international organizations and alliances.

Stefanik, 40, has made herself a household name among Republicans as a staunch defender of Israel and as a vocal ally of Trump. Her nomination is expected to face little resistance from Republicans in the Senate, given her leadership position and extensive relationships across Congress.

CNN previously reported that Trump offered Stefanik the job.

Stefanik has repeatedly accused the United Nations of antisemitism for its criticism of Israel’s prosecution of the war in the Gaza Strip and its continued opposition to the expansion of settlements and treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank. In October, she called for a “complete reassessment of U.S. funding of the United Nations” in response to efforts by the Palestinian Authority to expel Israel from the United Nations for alleged war crimes and human rights abuses committed in Gaza and West Bank. She has also backed blocking U.S. support for the United Nations Relief Works Agency, the main provider of humanitarian aid to Palestinians living in occupied territories, over accusations the group failed to properly vet staff members for ties to the militant group Hamas.

On Ukraine, Stefanik supported early aid packages to shore up Ukraine’ defenses, and co-sponsored sweeping Republican legislation to sanction Russia’s financial and energy sectors and step up U.S. military aid to Kyiv in the run-up to Moscow’s February 2022 invasion.

But she was one of the 112 GOP lawmakers to oppose the latest $61 billion tranche of assistance for Ukraine when it cleared the House in April, making her the most senior member of Republican leadership to vote against it. Stefanik said at the time that, while she supports arming Ukraine, she couldn’t support allocating more money for non-lethal aid amid a crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Elected to Congress in 2014 at the age of 30, the Harvard graduate — and former aide to George W. Bush — has tacked from more moderate positions earlier in her congressional career to become a partisan warrior in alignment with Trump. She initially presented herself as a moderate and gained prominence among her colleagues for her efforts to elect Republican women. But as her northern New York district, previously much more competitive, became more Republican, she became a more vocal defender of Trump.

Stefanik gained national prominence during Trump’s first impeachment trial in 2019 with fiery defenses of the former president. At the time, Trump anointed Stefanik as “a new Republican star” in 2019 after she forcefully confronted then-Intelligence Chair Adam Schiff at an impeachment hearing. By then, Stefanik had already carved out a profile attacking the impeachment on social media and on Fox News. She also refused to certify the 2020 election results after the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, backing Trump’s false claims that the election was stolen from him.

She used that rise to advance in House Republican leadership, challenging then-House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) over Cheney’s support for accountability against Trump for the Jan. 6 insurrection.

More recently, Stefanik was praised by Republicans and Jewish leaders after she grilled college presidents in a House hearing on their handling of campus demonstrations over the Israel-Gaza war. Her questioning of the university leaders over how to handle hate speech against Jewish students on campus led to the resignations of the Harvard and University of Pennsylvania presidents.

She brings some foreign policy credentials to the role. Stefanik serves on the House Armed Services Committee and chaired the panel’s subcommittees on intelligence and special operations; emerging threats; and cyber, information technologies and innovation. She also sits on the House Intelligence Committee.

Stefanik has pushed for a hard line on China and served on a House Republican China Task Force to survey the threats posed by Beijing. Stefanik has criticized China’s trade practices and pushed to remove it from U.S. supply chains and critical U.S. infrastructure. She’s sponsored a variety of tough-on-China bills, including legislation targeting Chinese drone maker DJI.

Her legislation would place DJI on the Federal Communication Commission’s “covered list,” prohibiting DJI’s products from operating using U.S. communications infrastructure. The bill passed the House in September and is among dozens of China bills that could be enacted in annual defense legislation.

Stefanik, a prodigious fundraiser, could have remained in House leadership for decades and greater electoral ambitions. Speculation has long swirled that the New York Republican could one day mount a run for Senate or the governor’s mansion.

But the role of U.S. envoy to the United Nations has long been seen as a stepping stone to higher office. After serving as U.S. envoy to the world body, Madeleine Albright went on to serve as secretary of State. Others, such as Samantha Power and Susan Rice, have occupied other plum roles in the national security landscape, or, in the case of George H.W. Bush, have gone on to serve as president.