Trump nominates Kari Lake to be US ambassador to Jamaica

Donald Trump has nominated Kari Lake, a longtime ally and former TV anchor who ran unsuccessfully for Arizona governor, to serve as the next US ambassador to Jamaica.

If confirmed by the Senate, it would end Lake’s tenure as the key official responsible for Voice of America (VOA), the global media organization created in 1942.

In 2024, the US president appointed Lake to lead the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees VOA, following her unsuccessful Senate and gubernatorial campaigns in Arizona, and under the direction of a presidential executive order she moved to fire hundreds of VOA employees, as well as to cut funding for other newsgroups.

But staffers challenged those actions, and in March a federal judge ruled that Lake had been unlawfully serving as head of USAGM because she had not been confirmed by the Senate, and voided her actions at the agency, including the mass layoffs.

After the White House announcement on Monday, Lake thanked Trump in a post on social media, and said: “Jamaica is a country I know very well, full of incredible people, and if confirmed by the Senate, I look forward to strengthening the partnership between our nations, advancing America’s interests abroad, and building on the deep friendship shared by the American and Jamaican people.”

“Honored to continue serving in this HISTORIC Administration!” she added.

In a second statement, she said she had spoken with Trump and was “incredibly grateful for his support, encouragement, and TRUST.”