A Definitive Ranking of Trump’s Most Qualified Ambassador Picks
U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas Herschel Walker has a warning for the traveling public: beware of jet skis. Walker’s office cautioned that local “jet ski rentals pose a serious risk of injury, death, and sexual assault” while sharing a PSA-style video on social media this week.
The unfortunately worded tweet made the rounds online, drawing novel attention to the fact that Walker had been named as ambassador to the Bahamas in the first place. The former football star last made headlines in 2022 when his U.S. Senate campaign went up in flames amid allegations that the staunchly anti-abortion candidate paid for the abortions of multiple former partners.
So it seems like a good moment to check in on some of Trump’s other picks for top diplomatic posts. While acknowledging that many presidents have used ambassadorships as patronage chips for donors and associates, the second Trump administration has gifted us with some real doozies. Here’s a very scientific ranking of some of the best.
7. Tom Barrack in Turkey
Private equity real estate baron and longtime Trump buddy Tom Barrack is taking a break from repping the administration on cable news to oversee some pretty crucial posts in the Middle East. Since May 2025, Barrack has served as the U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, U.S. Special Envoy for Syria, and U.S. Special Envoy for Iraq.
The results have been mixed, to say the least. At the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in April, Barrack reportedly praised local strongmen leaders and critiqued grassroots movements. “If you look at the region … the only thing that has worked are these powerful leadership regimes, either benevolent monarchies or a kind of monarchial republic. Everything else in the Arab Spring has just faded away, evaporated,” he said. Conservative critics including the Wall Street Journal editorial board and The Middle East Forum Observer denounced Barack’s remarks and his defense of the increasingly authoritarian Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s administration.
6. Doug Mastriano in Slovakia
So what if Doug Mastriano lost Pennsylvania’s 2022 governor’s race by an impressively large 800,000 votes? He also served in the U.S. Army for 30 years, spending time in Europe during the Cold War. So he’s a natural fit to become Trump’s ambassador to Slovakia.
While the State Department’s certificate of competency for Mastriano emphasizes his “strategic leadership” and devotion to a life of service, the hard-right Pennsylvanian is perhaps better known for protesting COVID lockdowns; boosting the Big Lie and hanging around outside the Capitol on Jan. 6; and losing badly to Josh Shapiro in the general election despite securing Trump’s endorsement for the GOP gubernatorial nomination. Mastriano has not yet been confirmed by the Senate for his new post.
5. Charles Kushner in France/Monaco
Charles Kushner may have no political or diplomatic experience, but he sure is Jared Kushner’s dad. So he was dispatched to France to serve as the ambassador to the United States’ oldest ally. (The appointment was only made possible after Trump pardoned Kushner for a 2005 conviction for tax evasion, illegal campaign contributions, and witness tampering.)
In February, the real estate developer caused a diplomatic incident of his own. After the State Department blamed “violent radical leftism” for the killing of a far-right French activist, the French government summoned Kushner to answer for the Trump administration’s inflammatory comments. Kushner was a no-show, and was temporarily barred from meeting with any top French officials as a result.
4. Kari Lake in Jamaica
Fresh off a stint attempting to torch America’s foreign broadcasting agencies, Kari Lake was nominated to become U.S. Ambassador to Jamaica. The State Department didn’t even try to make this one make sense, just noting that Lake “has traveled to Jamaica on various occasions.”
Lake spent 22 years working for the local Fox affiliate in Phoenix, Arizona, then spent most of the early 2020s running for and losing campaigns to serve as the state’s governor and U.S. senator. She was rewarded for her election denialism and staunch defense of President Trump with an appointment to lead the U.S. Agency for Global Media, where she tried to dismantle Voice of America and terminate hundreds of employees. (A federal judge voided Lake’s actions on VOA in March, determining that she was illegally appointed to oversee the agency.) From the State Department’s perspective, this amounts to having “demonstrated communication skills on complex issues of institutional reform and public trust.” (Lake’s Senate confirmation is still pending.)
3. L. Brent Bozell III in South Africa
In South Africa, the ambassador’s own rhetoric and views have landed him in hot water. As TPM has reported, L. Brent Bozell III actively opposed the fight to end apartheid, expressing concern that Black activists were overly aggressive in their push to put an end to anti-Black violence and legal segregation. As recently as March, Bozell criticized South Africa for affirmative action laws designed to rectify some of the systemic inequities of the apartheid era.
The far-right activist was summoned by the foreign minister in March to explain his comments. The rift between the two countries has deepened since Trump retook office and accused the Black-led government of committing “white genocide” against Afrikaners, who the administration has encouraged to move to the U.S. as refugees. Per the AP, “ties have plunged to their lowest point since the end of apartheid, or white minority rule, in 1994.”
2. Mike Huckabee in Israel
One thing you might want to avoid as the U.S. Ambassador to Israel is suggesting that Israel has a God-given right to take over most of the Middle East. But Mike Huckabee did just that in a February interview with Tucker Carlson. More than a dozen Arab and Muslim nations condemned Huckabee’s “dangerous and inflammatory remarks,” which the former Arkansas governor insisted were taken out of context.
Huckabee is a former Southern Baptist minister and outspoken Christian Zionist. As NBC notes, “Prior to his appointment as envoy, he was outspoken about his support for the idea that Israel should annex the occupied West Bank and incorporate its Palestinian population, a position that would represent a reversal of decades of U.S. policy.” Just the kind of uncontroversial, savvy, cautious appointee the region needs at this time.
1. Kimberly Guilfoyle in Greece
According to the New York Times, some Greek officials questioned whether the Trump administration was insulting them by appointing Kimberly Guilfoyle as the U.S. ambassador to their country. A fair question, since the former Fox News host, like so many of Trump’s diplomatic appointees, has no relevant experience. She did, however, take some classes on ancient history at UC Davis that she liked.
Crucially, Guilfoyle also got dumped by Donald Trump, Jr. Hours after The Daily Mail published photos of Trump Jr. holding hands with Palm Beach socialite Bettina Anderson in December 2024, then-president-elect Trump announced Guilfoyle would get the ambassadorship.
Since arriving in Athens, Guilfoyle has promoted oil and gas projects in the region, facilitated the development of a new U.S.-backed port, and gone to a lot of parties. Her 1:30 a.m. appearance at a nightclub for her friend’s concert, she told the Times, exemplified the “tremendous stamina” and loyalty that helped her win the president’s admiration. “That’s one of the things the president loves about me,” Guilfoyle said.
