Trump Nominates Army Veteran Rep. Wesley Hunt as Ambassador to Saudi Arabia

President Donald Trump on Monday nominated Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, to be U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, sending the nomination to the Senate as part of a package that also formally named acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao to the permanent Navy post and Heidi Overton to lead the Food and Drug Administration.

The Riyadh embassy has had no confirmed ambassador since Michael Ratney, a Biden nominee, left at the end of that administration in January 2025. Hunt would arrive while U.S. and allied forces remain engaged with Iran and while Iran-backed Houthis have struck Saudi targets, including the pipeline attack Trump last week said Iran was “probably” behind.

Hunt, 44, represents Texas’s 38th District and is finishing his second House term. He ran for the Senate this year, finished behind Attorney General Ken Paxton and Sen. John Cornyn in the Republican primary, and is not on the November ballot. Trump held off on an early Senate endorsement, then backed Paxton in the runoff. Hunt endorsed Paxton after that signal.

“It is the honor of a lifetime to accept President Trump’s nomination to serve as the next United States Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” Hunt wrote on X. “Having served in the region both in combat as an Army officer and for two years as a diplomatic liaison in the Kingdom, I understand the strategic importance of the partnership between the United States and Saudi Arabia and the profound responsibility of this position.”

Hunt is a West Point graduate who served eight years on active duty in Army aviation, including Iraq. He later worked as a diplomatic liaison in Saudi Arabia before entering Congress in 2023. He said his immediate family has more than 60 years of combined military service and that his siblings also graduated from West Point.

“When confirmed, I will serve with humility and honor, advance his vision of peace through strength and deepen this vital partnership,” he said.

The Senate must confirm the nomination. The chamber has a short calendar before the Nov. 3 midterms, which Texas outlets noted could slow a floor vote. If Republicans hold the Senate, a lame-duck confirmation remains available. If they do not, Hunt’s odds depend on how many Democrats will vote for a Trump political ally in a war-zone posting.

Saudi Arabia is a linchpin for oil flows through the Gulf, a counterweight to Iran, and a partner in the Abraham Accords architecture Trump has tried to expand. Filling the empty ambassador’s chair is a personnel decision with operational consequences: the embassy has been run by chargés while drones and missiles have moved around the peninsula.

Cao’s formal nomination locks in a Navy secretary who has been serving in an acting capacity. Overton’s FDA nomination will draw separate confirmation scrutiny.