The U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Republican Representative Elise Stefanik to serve as the country's next ambassador to the United Nations, he said in a statement shared with Reuters on Monday.
"I am honored to nominate Chairwoman Elise Stefanik to serve in my Cabinet as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Elise is an incredibly strong, tough, and smart America First fighter," Trump said.
CNN reported Sunday that Trump offered Stefanik the job.
Staunchly pro-Israel, the lawmaker from upstate New York is the fourth-highest ranking Republican in the House of Representatives where she chairs the Republican Conference.
A graduate of Harvard University, Stefanik, 40, has been a rising star among Trump's allies after refashioning herself from a moderate Republican to a MAGA stalwart.
She could not be immediately reached for comment, Reuters said.
Stefanik has long been a vocal critic of the U.N., where she is slated to set up shop after Trump assumes office on Jan. 20, 2025, and has accused the international body of anti-Semitism for its criticism of Israel's war on the besieged Gaza Strip.
Just last week, Stefanik called for the U.S. to defund the UN's Palestine refugee agency after Israel's parliament passed a pair of laws strictly curtailing UNRWA's ability to function in Israel.
She accused the agency, which provides vital services to millions of Palestinian refugees displaced across the Middle East, of being "Hamas-infiltrated."
Stefanik has also staunchly criticized the U.N.'s opposition to Israel's illegal settlements in the West Bank, using Israel's moniker "Judea and Samaria" to referred to the occupied Palestinian territory.
"I am demanding Joe Biden show strength on the world stage and clearly condemn the blatant anti-Israel bias in the United Nations," she said in a February 2023 statement as the U.N. Security Council was preparing to vote on a resolution condemning Israel's settlements.
"Joe Biden must not abandon our ally and shamefully cave to the UN’s agenda. I am proud to always stand with our ally Israel, and call on the Biden Administration do the same," she added.
Israel's U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon congratulated Stefanik on her nomination on Monday.
"At a time when hate and lies fill the halls of the U.N., your unwavering moral clarity is needed more than ever. Wishing you success in standing firm for truth and justice," he said in a post on social media platform X.
Stefanik was the youngest woman ever elected to Congress when she first won her district, which had voted twice for Democratic President Barack Obama and had been represented by Democrats in Congress since 1993.
She was seen as a potential vice president pick for Trump before he selected J.D. Vance.
She saw her profile rise after her aggressive questioning of a trio of university presidents over antisemitism on campus led to two of their resignations – a performance Trump repeatedly praised.
Trump said on Saturday that former Republican presidential contender Nikki Haley will not be asked to join his administration.
Haley served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under Trump during his previous term and had endorsed Trump for president despite having criticized him harshly when she ran against him in the party primaries.
Trump is meeting with potential candidates to serve in his administration before his Jan. 20 inauguration as president.
