Trump Nominates Kari Lake as US Ambassador to Jamaica

Donald Trump has nominated Kari Lake, a longtime ally and former TV anchor who ran unsuccessfully for Arizona governor, to serve as the next US ambassador to Jamaica. If confirmed by the Senate, this would end Lake’s tenure as the key official responsible for Voice of America (VOA), the global media organization created in 1942.

In 2024, Trump appointed Lake to lead the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees VOA. Under her direction and presidential executive orders, she moved to fire hundreds of VOA employees and cut funding for other newsgroups. However, staffers challenged these actions, and in March a federal judge ruled that Lake had been unlawfully serving as head of USAGM because she had not been confirmed by the Senate, voiding her actions at the agency, including the mass layoffs.

Following the White House announcement on Monday, Lake thanked Trump in a post on social media. “Jamaica is a country I know very well, full of incredible people,” she said. If confirmed by the Senate, she looks forward to strengthening the partnership between the nations and advancing America’s interests abroad.

Lake spent more than two decades as a television anchor at a local Fox News affiliate in Phoenix before entering politics. She ran for Arizona governor as a Republican in 2021 but lost to Democrat Katie Hobbs, refusing to accept the result despite a state judge rejecting her claims. She later ran unsuccessfully for the US Senate in Arizona in 2024.

In an interview with the New York Times, Kate Neeper, a USAGM director who was placed on paid leave and joined litigation challenging the dismantling of VOA, said she viewed Lake’s new nomination as a sign that VOA journalists had prevailed against the administration’s efforts. “This is a concession to that victory,” Neeper said.