Arizona Republican Kari Lake is the leading contender to be President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for ambassador to Mexico, Semafor reported Monday.
Lake has long been a staunch ally to Trump, and he endorsed her for both her failed U.S. Senate run last month as well as her Arizona gubernatorial bid in 2022, which she lost to Democrat Gov. Katie Hobbs. Democrat Rep. Ruben Gallego defeated Lake by more than 2 points in the Nov. 5 Senate election.
Like Trump, Lake is a border hawk who ran on a 10-point plan to secure the border in her Senate race. She advocated for, in part, finishing the border wall, ending certain provisions for migrants to qualify for asylum, and automatic deportations of migrants illegally crossing into the U.S. Like Trump, she has likened the illegal border crossings under President Joe Biden as an "invasion."
As ambassador to Mexico, Lake would assuredly be Trump's point person in engaging Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on border issues as well as tariffs.
Trump's other nominees for ambassadorships so far include Mike Huckabee (Israel), Charles Kushner (France), David Perdue (China), and Brandon Judd (Chile), among others.