White House Considers GOP Donor Aldona Wos for Canada Ambassador
White House Considers GOP Donor Aldona Wos for Canada Ambassador
(Bloomberg) -- The Trump administration is considering Republican donor Aldona Wos to be its next ambassador to Canada, according to two people familiar with the plans.
Wos, a retired physician who served as U.S. ambassador to Estonia under George W. Bush, would succeed Kelly Craft, who has been nominated to be the envoy to the United Nations, said the people, speaking on condition of anonymity. No announcement would be made until after Craft is confirmed and in the new position, an official said.
The White House communications staff said they had no personnel announcements and declined to comment further.
Wos and her husband, Louis DeJoy, who both raise money for the GOP, are from North Carolina. Wos, born in Poland, served previously in the state government under Republican Governor Pat McCrory.
Wos would take over as U.S.-Canada ties are on the mend, with the resolution of a grueling tariff fight over steel and aluminum, and agreement on a new Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade deal -- though it’s running into objections among U.S. lawmakers.
Key outstanding issues for the new envoy will include a dispute over U.S. tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber and potential restrictions on Huawei Technologies Co., the Chinese technology company targeted by the Trump administration. Canada is weighing whether to ban Huawei from its 5G networks, under pressure from the U.S., which says the company represents a national security threat.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, during a visit to Canada on Thursday, warned Canada and other allies that Huawei is incompatible with U.S. national security. Trudeau said the 5G decision will be based on facts and a security analysis, not political pressure.
To contact the reporters on this story: Josh Wingrove in Washington at jwingrove4@bloomberg.net;Jennifer Jacobs in Washington at jjacobs68@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Justin Blum, Joshua Gallu
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