Trump picks Heather Nauert as US's next UN ambassador
President Donald Trump yesterday nominated State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert as US ambassador to the United Nations, reported AFP, tapping someone with no prior policy or political experience to deal with some of the world's thorniest issues.
Nauert, whose nomination would require Senate confirmation, is a former Fox News Channel correspondent and anchor. She became the State Department's spokeswoman in April 2017 and was named earlier this year as the acting undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs.
If confirmed, Nauert, 48, would succeed Nikki Haley, who said in October she would be leaving the UN post at the end of the year.
A senior White House official said late on Thursday that the UN ambassador post would not remain part of the Cabinet, as it has been under Haley.
Nauert gained experience on diplomacy by working at the State Department, but she lacks the political and policy credentials of Haley, a former South Carolina governor.
The development came as a US resolution championed by Ambassador Haley to condemn the Palestinian Hamas movement at the United Nations for firing rockets at Israel failed to win enough votes for adoption on Thursday.
The proposed measure won 87 votes in the General Assembly, falling short of the required two-thirds majority. Fifty-eight countries opposed the measure and 32 abstained.
Haley steps down from her post at the end of the year.
Hamas praised the outcome of the vote, describing it as a "slap" to Trump's administrationIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commended those that voted in favour.
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