WASHINGTON: US President-elect Donald Trump has nominated political ally and former Georgia senator David Perdue to be ambassador to China, promising to impose punitive tariffs on a key trade partner of the Republican Party.
“Tonight, I am announcing that former United States Senator, David Perdue, has accepted my nomination as the next United States Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China,” Trump wrote on social media.
Perdue, 74, a business executive and politician, served as a Georgia senator from 2015 to 2021, and ran unsuccessfully for governor of the state in 2022.
If confirmed by the Senate, Perdue will play a key role in managing the relationship between the world’s two largest economies, the United States and China.
A Trump ally, he supported the former president’s false claims about alleged rigging in the 2020 presidential election, which he lost to billionaire Republican Joe Biden.
A special grand jury recommended indicting Purdue on the claims, but the district attorney ultimately declined to indict him in the case.
Trump waged a trade war with China during his last term, and has promised to re-weaponize the use of tariffs to favor American manufacturing.
He hailed Purdue as a “loyal supporter” in his social media post, citing his business experience as a good fit for a diplomatic role in Beijing.
“He will be instrumental in implementing my strategy for maintaining peace in the region and for a productive working relationship with China’s leaders,” Trump said.
“David has been a loyal supporter and friend, and I look forward to working with him in his new role!”
Perdue comes from a prominent Georgia business family, best known for its chicken industry empire.
While in the Senate, he served on the Armed Services Committee — chairing its Seapower subcommittee — and the Foreign Relations Committee.
He was one of the wealthiest members of Congress, and one of its most active traders in the stock market while in office. In 2020, the New York Times reported that the US Department of Justice had subpoenaed him for possible insider trading. Was investigated.
Prosecutors did not press charges in the case.