US ambassador to France and Monaco Jamie McCourt is one of the two women the White House is considering to be the next U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. | Ludovic/AFP/Getty Images White House White House considers 2 female ambassadors to replace Haley at U.N. Aides have said the president is inclined to select a woman for the post and that they are looking to place somebody already in the administration. The White House is adding two high-profile women, both confirmed ambassadors, to the list of candidates to succeed Nikki Haley at the United Nations, according to two senior administration officials: Jamie McCourt and Kelly Knight Craft. White House aides have said the president is inclined to select a woman for the post, and — while they stressed it’s still early in the process — that they are looking to tap somebody already in the administration. “It’s so hard to get a security clearance so there’s a bias to get someone who is already in the system,” said a senior administration official. An official at the State Department who declined to be identified because the process is still ongoing echoed that sentiment. “If you go picking somebody not in government, they would have to go through paperwork for background checks, financial vetting, and that can take awhile,” the official said. “The White House is definitely looking for somebody already working in government to make them more of a safe bet.” McCourt, the American ambassador to France and Monaco, is a former corporate attorney and CEO of the Los Angeles Dodgers whose 2009 divorce from former Dodgers owner Frank McCourt became tabloid fodder. She served as a California co-chair for the Trump campaign, and the president nominated her to serve in her current position in August of 2017. She was confirmed in November. “She has done a great job as ambassador, as has Kelly Craft,” said the same senior administration official. “They are sophisticated, smart, and willing to travel.” POLITICO Playbook newsletter Sign up today to receive the #1-rated newsletter in politics Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or updates from POLITICO and you agree to our privacy policy and terms of service. You can unsubscribe at any time and you can contact us here. This sign-up form is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Craft, the American ambassador to Canada, is the husband of billionaire coal baron and Republican mega donor Joe Craft. She is the first woman to serve as ambassador to Canada and served as an alternative delegate to the U.N. in the George W. Bush administration. She recently worked with the Trump administration to hammer out the United States-Mexico-Canada agreement, which raised her stock internally. Her experience at the U.N. may make her a more serious contender for the position and she has, to date, been discussed more internally than has McCourt. Trump’s national security team is embroiled in a debate over whether the U.N. ambassadorship should remain a cabinet-level position, a detail first reported by Axios. Republican administrations typically do not accord the U.N. ambassador cabinet-level status, while Democratic administrations typically do. Trump bucked the trend when he took office by keeping the post cabinet level as it had been under the Obama administration. The new names come after the early favorite, former deputy national security adviser and Goldman Sachs executive Dina Powell, removed her name from consideration. Other candidates discussed internally include Ric Grenell, the U.S. Ambassador to Germany, a confidant of National Security Adviser John Bolton, and former Connecticut senator Joseph Lieberman. The president is also likely to consider acquaintances from the business world, according to a senior administration official.<doc-sep>President Donald Trump is giving serious consideration to Kelly Craft, the U.S. ambassador to Canada, as the nation’s next ambassador to the United Nations, according to people familiar with his thinking. Mr. Trump has been complimentary of Ms. Craft in private meetings, the people said. She also is “highly regarded” among top White House staff, including chief of staff John Kelly, one senior White House official said. Mr. Trump’s consideration of Ms. Craft comes after Dina Powell, a prominent former White House official, withdrew from consideration earlier this week. Ms. Craft, 56, was involved in reworking the North American Free Trade Agreement, a process that engendered tense moments between the U.S. and Canada. The Senate confirmed her for her current position in August 2017. Filling the U.N. vacancy is a priority for Mr. Trump since Nikki Haley announced her resignation from the post this week. Ms. Haley will stay on the job until the end of the year. Ms. Powell was immediately considered a leading replacement choice given her close ties to the Trump family and her role as deputy national security adviser during the first year of Mr. Trump’s administration. She has been a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. executive since leaving the White House. Mr. Trump is also considering other candidates, according to the people familiar with his thinking. Potential appointees include Kay Bailey Hutchison, the former Texas senator who now serves as U.S. ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Another Texan, Nancy Brinker, founder of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, is also on the shortlist. Ms. Craft declined to comment. Ms. Hutchison and Ms. Brinker couldn’t be reached for comment. Ms. Craft is a longtime Republican fundraiser and in 2007 was appointed by then-President George W. Bush an alternate delegate to the U.N. General Assembly. Her husband is Joe Craft, president and CEO of Alliance Resource Partners, a major coal producer. Ms. Haley surprised most of Washington with her announcement Tuesday that she was resigning. Appearing that day with Mr. Trump in the Oval Office, she said it was “important for government officials to understand when it’s time to step aside.” Many who know her said Ms. Haley, a former governor of South Carolina and one-time Trump critic, wants to continue her political career, possibly running for president, though she said it wouldn’t be in 2020. Mr. Trump said he would likely announce a successor within two or three weeks. One name he has ruled out is Richard Grenell, the ambassador to Germany. “Ric is doing so well that I wouldn’t want to move him,” Mr. Trump told reporters.<doc-sep>United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley resigned from her post on Tuesday, leaving the White House less than a month before the critical 2018 midterm elections. Haley, a former governor of South Carolina, was nominated to the position by Donald Trump shortly after he was elected in November 2016. She was one of the longest-serving senior officials in his administration before announcing her abrupt departure. Haley and the president met in the Oval Office on Tuesday morning to discuss her resignation. Trump previewed the meeting, which was open to the press, with a tweet that said there was a "big announcement" happening with Haley. "She got to know the players, she got to know Russia, China and India," Trump said, praising Haley's time serving in the administration and the United Nations. He told Haley that she will be missed and that she has done a "fantastic job." Haley will leave the White House at the end of the year. During the announcement, Haley said that her "goal" is to make sure everything is set up and ready for the next ambassador to take over at the start of 2019. When asked about a potential replacement, Trump did not name anyone specifically but said that he has "many people" who are interested in taking on the position. "It's a great position," Trump said, praising Haley for making the job of U.N. ambassador "more glamorous" and "more important." The president added that he will likely name a successor within the next two or three weeks. Last year rumors circulated that Ivanka Trump, the president's daughter and senior adviser, might replace Haley in the event that the ambassador was promoted to secretary of state. Haley commented on Ivanka Trump and Kushner in her remarks Tuesday, calling the president's son-in-law a "hidden genius" for his work on NAFTA and the Middle East. She went on to call Ivanka Trump a "great friend" and praised the couple for doing a lot of work "behind the scenes." But the likelihood of Ivanka Trump or even Kushner being placed in the position, which requires Senate approval, is unclear, since the move may conflict with anti-nepotism laws. Other potential replacements for Haley's position include Dina Powell, Trump's former deputy national security adviser. Powell left the White House earlier this year after serving in her position for one year. During her time in the administration, Powell was instrumental to Trump's Middle East policy and advised the president on his meetings with foreign leaders. She was responsible for planning all of Trump's foreign trips and his first visit to the United Nations General Assembly in September 2017. A source with knowledge is telling me that a contender to replace Nikki Haley at the UN is Dina Powell, Trump's former Dep National Security Advisor. — Kate Bolduan (@KateBolduan) October 9, 2018 The Washington Post reported that Haley had made the decision to leave and her split with the White House was amicable, unlike many of the departures of senior staff since Trump entered the Oval Office. After leaving the administration, Powell returned to Goldman Sachs, where she now serves as the firm's global head of impact investing. Another rumored favorite to replace Haley is U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell. Grenell is the longest-serving appointee to the United Nations in history and has had a close relationship with Trump's national security adviser John Bolton. The two served together in former President George W. Bush's administration.<doc-sep>
Dina Powell, who returned to Goldman Sachs in a senior role after leaving her job as President Donald Trump’s deputy national security adviser, is said to be strongly considering the job. | Andrew Harnik/AP Photo White House Dina Powell tops White House list for U.N. NEW YORK — Dina Powell, the Goldman Sachs executive and former senior White House official, is the top candidate to replace outgoing U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, two people familiar with the matter said Tuesday. Powell, who returned to Goldman in a senior role after leaving her job as President Donald Trump’s deputy national security adviser, is said to be strongly considering the job but also weighing family concerns. Powell already lives in New York, where the U.N. is based, but has young children and left the administration in part to spend more time with family. She is also said to be happy in her job at Goldman. Born in Egypt and raised in the United States, Powell is well liked by Trump as well as the president’s daughter Ivanka and son-in-law, Jared Kushner. But she is already coming under criticism from some conservatives on social media who maintain that Powell is a “globalist” not closely enough aligned with Trump’s “America first” approach to foreign policy. Trump on Tuesday described Powell as a “person I would consider” when asked about her possible nomination. “She is under consideration. We have, actually, many names,” he said. Other potential successors to Haley — who announced on Tuesday that she would leave her post at the end of the year — include Richard Grenell, the U.S. ambassador to Germany, who previously served as a spokesman for the U.S. Mission to the U.N.; and Kelly Craft, the U.S. ambassador to Canada. Some Trump supporters on Twitter pushed on Tuesday for Grenell over Powell. People familiar with the matter said the White House had been in touch with Powell about the job and that Powell asked for some time to consider it. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Haley posted a picture on Twitter over the weekend of her on a boat with Powell and Powell’s fiancé, David McCormick, the co-CEO of the global investment firm Bridgewater Associates. If nominated, Powell, who served in the George W. Bush administration, could face some opposition from hard-line conservatives. But she is also close to many Republicans on Capitol Hill, including Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Tom Cotton of Arkansas. Any confirmation would happen in the next Congress. In addition to family concerns, Powell would also face leaving Goldman after just returning to the firm in a senior client role and as a member of the management committee. Two people familiar with the matter also cited as a possible concern the need for more extensive financial disclosure for Powell and potentially for family members than was required for her previous role in the White House. While at the Trump White House, Powell served as both an economic adviser and a specialist on the Middle East and other foreign policy initiatives.