{"id":584,"date":"2025-04-02T14:09:57","date_gmt":"2025-04-02T14:09:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gogetterlifestylebrand.com\/?p=584"},"modified":"2025-04-07T11:33:39","modified_gmt":"2025-04-07T11:33:39","slug":"whitaker-confirmed-as-trump-nato-ambassador","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gogetterlifestylebrand.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/02\/whitaker-confirmed-as-trump-nato-ambassador\/","title":{"rendered":"Whitaker confirmed as Trump NATO ambassador"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Matthew Whitaker, who served as acting attorney general during President Trump\u2019s first term, was confirmed late Tuesday by the Senate in a 52-45 vote to be the next U.S. ambassador to NATO<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Whitaker, who has an extensive law enforcement background but light foreign policy experience, told senators during his confirmation hearing<\/a> last month that if he is confirmed for the post, he would urge the alliance\u2019s members to bolster their defense spending, and showed commitment to the transnational military organization founded in 1949.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPresident Trump has been clear: The United States remains committed to NATO and to the principle of peace through strength,\u201d Whitaker said at the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Trump has expressed skepticism about NATO for some time and has often called on allies<\/a> to invest more in defense spending. He recently said the U.S. is committed to the military alliance, a view the NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte confirmed during his visit to Washington<\/a> in mid-March.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Whitaker reiterated to senators last month that the U.S.\u2019s commitment to NATO is \u201cironclad,\u201d referencing Article 5 of the treaty. He vowed to press NATO member countries to commit to spending at least 5 percent of their gross domestic product on defense.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf confirmed, when I get over there, I look forward to the conversation with all of the members on this committee about whether or not our NATO allies are really committed to the alliance,\u201d Whitaker said during his confirmation hearing. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey say they are. But again, are these politicians just providing empty promises? Or are they actually stepping up, understanding that the world is dangerous, and the U.S. is their best ally in a dangerous world,” he added.<\/p>\n

Whitaker, who was tapped by Trump for the role<\/a> after Trump’s 2024 election victory, served briefly as chief of staff to former Attorney General Jeff Sessions.\u00a0He also previously served as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa, and from 2009 to 2017 he worked in private practice.<\/p>\n

\u201cMatt will strengthen relationships with our NATO Allies, and stand firm in the face of threats to Peace and Stability,\u201d Trump said in November<\/a>. \u201cI have full confidence in Matt\u2019s ability to represent the United States with Strength, Integrity, and unwavering Dedication.\u201d<\/p>\n

His confirmation comes after some Republicans have raised concerns<\/a> over talk of whether Trump could give up<\/a> the U.S.’s leadership role within the alliance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Matthew Whitaker, who served as acting attorney general during President Trump\u2019s first term, was confirmed late Tuesday by the Senate in a 52-45 vote to be the next U.S. ambassador to NATO. Whitaker, who has an extensive law enforcement background but light foreign policy experience, told senators during his confirmation hearing last month that if he is confirmed for the post, he would urge the alliance\u2019s members to bolster their…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":586,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gogetterlifestylebrand.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gogetterlifestylebrand.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gogetterlifestylebrand.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gogetterlifestylebrand.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gogetterlifestylebrand.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=584"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gogetterlifestylebrand.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":585,"href":"https:\/\/gogetterlifestylebrand.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584\/revisions\/585"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gogetterlifestylebrand.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gogetterlifestylebrand.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gogetterlifestylebrand.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gogetterlifestylebrand.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}