President-elect Donald Trump has nominated businessman Warren Stephens as the US ambassador to the UK.
“Warren has always dreamed of serving America full-time,” Trump said in a statement on Truth Social. And will represent America to one of the dearest allies.”
Stephens, CEO of Arkansas-based private investment bank Stephens Inc., donated millions to Trump’s re-election campaign this year.
If his nomination is successful, Stephens will help maintain the so-called “special relationship” between the US and Britain.
The two countries maintain close military, intelligence and cultural ties.
Trump has pledged to rework America’s relationships abroad, vowing to implement an “America-first” ethos in foreign policy.
The role of US ambassador to the UK is one of the most coveted diplomatic posts, and presidents have been known to bestow the role on prominent supporters.
During his first term, Trump appointed Woody Johnson, a top Republican donor and owner of the American football team New York Jets, as ambassador to the United Kingdom.
Barack Obama picked longtime Democratic Party fundraiser and lawyer Louis Sussman as his first ambassador to the United Kingdom — or Court of St. James.
However, Stephens has not always supported Trump’s candidacies. In 2016, when Trump first ran for president, Stephens donated nearly $4m (£3.1m) to political groups trying to stop Trump’s ascension, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported at the time. .
The investment banker also donated more than $2 million to a political action committee that supported former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley as she unsuccessfully ran for president in 2024, campaign finance watchdog Open Secrets reported. found
When Trump finally won that year’s Republican presidential primary, however, Stephens threw his support behind him. He also donated to Republican groups and U.S. Senate candidates this year, federal campaign finance data shows.
In a statement, Stephens said he was honored by the nomination.
“I have expressed to President Trump that I would be very proud to serve our country and his administration, to implement the President’s agenda and further strengthen the long-standing alliance between the United States and the United Kingdom,” he said. Working for,” he said.
He and his wife also maintain a philanthropic organization, the Harriet and Warren Stephens Family Foundation, which has donated to the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, the University of Mississippi, and the Episcopal Collegiate School in Little Rock.