(U.S.) Former acting U.S. Attorney General Matt Whitaker was tapped Wednesday as U.S. ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in President-elect Donald Trump’s upcoming administration.
Trump said in a news release announcing the appointment that “strong warrior and loyal Patriot, who will ensure the United States’ interests are advanced and defended.”
“Matt will strengthen relationships with our NATO Allies, and stand firm in the face of threats to Peace and Stability – He will put America first,” Trump said in the news release.
While Whitaker does not have notable foreign policy or national security experience, he comes to the position with a legal background from serving in the former Trump administration’s Department of Justice and as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa from 2004 to 2009.
In Trump’s administration, Whitaker served as acting attorney general from November 2018 through February 2019 after former AG Jeff Sessions resigned from the position. Before the appointment, Whitaker worked as Sessions’ chief of staff.
Before joining Trump’s administration, Whitaker had made multiple runs at Iowa positions, including an unsuccessful GOP primary campaign for the open U.S. Senate seat in 2014 where he lost to now-U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst. He applied for an appointment to the Iowa Supreme Court in 2010 and ran for state treasurer in 2002. As Trump noted in his announcement, Whitaker is also a former football player for the University of Iowa, winning a Big Ten Medal of Honor in 1993.
