“Matt is a strong warrior and a loyal patriotwho will ensure that your business United States will be promoted and defended. Matt will strengthen relationships with our allies from NATO and will unwaveringly confront threats to peace and stability – He will put America first“- wrote the president-elect in a statement.
“I look forward to working closely with him as we continue promote peace through strengthfreedom and prosperity around the world,” he added.
Matthew Whitaker – who is the new US ambassador to NATO nominated by Trump?
Matthew Whitaker is a lawyer and former federal prosecutorwhich during Trump's first presidency for four months he served as prosecutor general.
From then on, he was classified as one of the Trump's close associates and belonged to America First Legal – an organization founded by close Trump adviser Stephen Miller, whose aim was to challenge President Joe Biden's decisions to the courts.
As the AP notes, Whitaker's professional background “is related to law enforcement, not foreign policy.” Trump's nominee has no diplomatic experience nor regarding safety, but he spoke on these topics, among others: on Fox News.
In March 2022, he supported a right-wing station on air granting Ukraine decisive military assistance and he said that if Russia will not be stopped, could be Putin's next victim Poland.
As assessed by the former US ambassador… Ukraine John Herbst, nomination for office ambassador at NATO people with no experience in security policy is not an unprecedented situation, but in recent decades it has been Brussels more experienced diplomats were sent. He noted, however, that Whitaker's close relationship with the president-elect may be an advantage in his work.
USA. Ambassador to NATO. Trump gave the name
According to CNN, Whitaker will lead the US mission in… NATO in a period in which the defense alliance will continue to face one of its most difficult challenges, viz how to continue to support Ukraine in her war with Russia.
American media point out that during the election campaign, Trump emphasized that will respect NATO's commitment for mutual defense only in the case of countries that allocate a sufficient share of their annual budgets for defense.
Therefore, according to CNN, Whitaker will also be charged task of increasing pressure on the alliance countriesto increase defense spending – thereby renewing efforts that Donald Trump undertaken in his first term.