At the beginning of November reports were that Trump had essentially already picked Heather Nauert to take Nikki Haley’s job as UN Ambassador.
But it’s been weeks since that report and she’s apparently not been given the job yet. And now we are hearing Trump is considering someone else for the top post:
Scoop: John James, the Michigan businessman who ran for U.S. Senate this year, is one of the people that Trump is considering as a replacement for UN Ambassador Nikki Haley. @JohnJamesMI lost his challenge against Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow.
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) November 26, 2018
President Donald Trump is considering John James, a Michigan businessman who lost election to the U.S. Senate this year, to replace UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, according to two people familiar with the matter.
James tried to unseat Senator Debbie Stabenow, a Democrat, in a state that helped Trump win the presidency in 2016. He lost to the incumbent senator 46 to 52 percent. He’s now among the people Trump is considering to replace Haley, the former South Carolina governor who said in October she would resign by the end of the year, the people said.
They asked not to be identified because Trump’s deliberations on the job are private.
James was at the White House last week talking about an administration post with Trump, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Vice President Mike Pence, two people said.
James is an Iraq War veteran who is president of closely held James Group International, a supply-chain management firm based in Detroit. If chosen, he would become one of a few black officials in the top ranks of the Trump administration.
Other people Trump’s considered for the United Nations job include the U.S. ambassadors to France, Germany and Canada.
It sounds like Nauert may no longer under consideration, as they didn’t mention her at the end of the article. Or maybe she turned down the job. It is pretty high profile and I’m not sure I’d want to put James there in this first administration post.
If I had to guess, I’d say Trump may be considering one of his other ambassadors for the post and might put James in the place of whoever he chooses. I just can’t imagine Trump giving the job to James when Richard Grenell has been in this business for a long time and has far more experience. But we’ll see soon enough.