WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he had withdrawn his pick to be ambassador to the United Nations because the Republicans need to maintain their slim majority in the House of Representatives to advance his “America First” agenda.
Republican Representative Elise Stefanik is a close Trump ally and was chosen by the president for the U.N. role less than a week after he was elected in November. CBS News first reported that Stefanik’s nomination was in jeopardy.
“It is essential that we maintain EVERY Republican Seat in Congress,” Trump said in a social media post. “With a very tight Majority, I don’t want to take a chance on anyone else running for Elise’s seat.”
Trump’s Republicans currently hold a 218 to 213 majority in the House of Representatives, where there are four vacancies.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman James Risch told reporters on Thursday: “I have been notified by the White House. She’s been withdrawn.”
A spokesperson for Stefanik did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“There are others that can do a good job at the United Nations,” Trump wrote.
Trump said in February that the U.N. has “great potential and … we’ll continue to go along with it, but they got to get their act together.” The U.N. pushed back at the time, saying Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had worked tirelessly to implement reforms.
Since returning to office on January 20, Trump has stopped U.S. engagement with the U.N. Human Rights Council, extended a halt to funding for the Palestinian relief agency UNRWA and ordered a review of the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO. He has also announced U.S. plans to quit the Paris climate deal and the World Health Organization.
(Reporting by Jeff Mason and David Morgan; Additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle and Michelle Nichols; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Nick Zieminski)
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