Trump chooses former acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker as NATO ambassador

Trump appoints Whitaker as NATO ambassador despite lack of foreign policy experience, raising concerns about U.S. representation within alliance.

President-elect Donald Trump says he has chosen former acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker to serve as U.S. ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the bedrock Western alliance that the president-elect has expressed skepticism about for years.

Mr. Trump, in a statement, said Mr. Whitaker was “a strong warrior and loyal Patriot" who "will ensure the United States’ interests are advanced and defended” and “strengthen relationships with our NATO Allies, and stand firm in the face of threats to Peace and Stability.”

The choice of Mr. Whitaker as the nation’s representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is an unusual one, given his background is in law enforcement and not in foreign policy. Mr. Whitaker had been considered a potential pick for attorney general, a position Mr. Trump instead gave to Matt Gaetz, a fierce loyalist who has been seen as divisive even within his own party.

The NATO post is a particularly sensitive one given Mr. Trump’s regard of the alliance’s value and his complaints that numerous members are not meeting their commitments to spend at least 2% of their GDP on defense.

Mr. Whitaker is a former U.S. attorney in Iowa and served as acting attorney general between November 2018 and February 2019, as special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election interference was drawing to a close.

Before then, he was chief of staff to Mr. Trump’s first attorney general, Jeff Sessions, before being picked to replace his boss after Sessions was fired amid lingering outrage over his decision to withdraw from the Russia investigation. Mr. Whitaker held the position for several months, on an acting basis and without Senate confirmation, until William Barr was confirmed as attorney general in February 2019.

Mr. Whitaker has been a relentless critic of the federal criminal cases against Mr. Trump, which appear set to evaporate after Mr. Trump’s election win. Mr. Whitaker has used regular appearances on Fox News to join other Republicans in decrying what they contend is the politicization of the Justice Department over the past four years.