Trump’s top choice for UN ambassador withdraws

WASHINGTON—State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Saturday she has withdrawn from consideration for the position of U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. President Donald Trump named her as his top pick in December but had not officially submitted her nomination to the Senate.

Nauert likely would have faced a tough confirmation process over her relative lack of foreign policy experience. Reports also recently questioned whether she followed proper procedures for employing an immigrant as a nanny. “The past two months have been grueling for my family and therefore it is in the best interest of my family that I withdraw my name from consideration,” she said in a statement released Saturday by the State Department.

Nauert would have replaced Ambassador Nikki Haley, who stepped down at the end of last year after serving for nearly two years. The State Department said Trump would announce a nominee for ambassador to the UN soon.