She’s a top Republican fundraiser, wife of a coal producer, current Ambassador to Canada, and now President Trump’s choice to be America’s next United Nations ambassador.
Trump tweeted last night he will nominate Kelly Knight Craft to fill the role of former ambassador Nikki Haley.
I am pleased to announce that Kelly Knight Craft, our current Ambassador to Canada, is being nominated to be United States Ambassador to the United Nations….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 22, 2019
….Kelly has done an outstanding job representing our Nation and I have no doubt that, under her leadership, our Country will be represented at the highest level. Congratulations to Kelly and her entire family!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 22, 2019
Craft, 56, currently the U.S. ambassador to Canada, has been married to Joe Craft, the president and CEO of coal producer Alliance Resources, since 2016.
Craft made headlines shortly after she started the job, after she told a Canadian broadcaster that she believed scientists on “both sides” of the climate change debate.
According to NASA, 97 percent or more of actively publishing climate scientists agree that climate-warming trends over the past century are extremely likely due to human activities.
The Kentucky native has also been a strong backer of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement – pioneered by Trump as a replacement for NAFTA.
Craft previously served as an alternate delegate to the UN during President George W Bush’s administration, where her focuses included Africa.
Joe Craft, considered a central figure and leader in the United States’ coal industry, donated at least $1 million to President Trump’s inauguration fund, according to Open Secrets, a non-profit group that tracks political contributions.
According to a Forbes profile of Joe Craft, his net worth was estimated to be $1.4 billion in 2012.