Representative Elise Stefanik will be the new US ambassador to the UN in the new cabinet of President-elect Donald Trump, who will take power again in January.
President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Rep. Elise Stefanik to serve as his ambassador to the United Nations.
“Elise is an incredibly strong, tough and intelligent fighter who puts America first,” Trump said in a statement Monday announcing his selection.
Nikki Haley, who challenged Trump for the GOP nomination, was one of those who previously held the position in his first term.
Stefanik, 40, chair of the House Republican Conference, has long been one of Trump's most loyal allies in that instance and was one of those discussed as a possible option for vice president.
Born and raised in upstate New York, Stefanik graduated from Harvard and worked in former President George W. Bush's White House on the domestic policy council and in the chief of staff's office.
In 2014, at age 30, she became the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, representing upstate New York. She later became the youngest woman to serve in the chamber's leadership.
Stefanik was known early in her tenure as a more moderate conservative voice. But she soon joined the former president, quietly reshaping her image into that of a staunch MAGA ally — and watching her power rise.
She became the chair of the House Republican Conference in 2021.
Stefanik spent years positioning herself as one of Trump's most trusted allies and confidants on Capitol Hill. She endorsed him in the 2024 race before he even launched his candidacy, and campaigned aggressively on his behalf during the GOP primaries.
His profile rose after his aggressive questioning of a trio of college presidents over anti-Semitism on campus led to the resignation of two of them — a performance Trump repeatedly praised.
She also vigorously defended him in both impeachment trials and vigorously opposed his four criminal charges, including filing an ethics complaint in New York against the judge who heard his civil fraud case.