Trump Announces Tech Appointments, Nominates More Ambassadors

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Trump named his choices for Special Envoy to Latin America and ambassador to Denmark amid calls for America to claim Greenland and reclaim the Panama Canal.

President-elect Donald Trump announced another round of appointments and nominations on Dec. 22, including people who will work with White House artificial intelligence (AI) and crypto czar David Sacks as well as several important ambassadorships.

Michael Kratsios was named the assistant to the president for science and technology and the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). Lynne Parker was chosen to become the counselor to the director of the OSTP and executive director of the Presidential Council of Advisors for Science and Technology (PCAST), which Sacks will chair.

Bo Hines was named the executive director of the new Presidential Council of Advisers for Digital Assets (the “Crypto Council”), and Sriram Krishnan was named the senior policy adviser for artificial intelligence at the OSTP.

Trump summarized the purpose of each role and group in his announcement on Truth Social. PCAST, he said, would be tasked with assembling “America’s most distinguished minds in science and technology” to advise the Trump administration “on critical issues like Artificial Intelligence.”

Over at the OSTP, Sriram, he said, will work closely with Sacks and PCAST, focusing on “ensuring continued American leadership in A.I., and help shape and coordinate A.I. policy across Government.”

Meanwhile, his Crypto Council will be “a new advisory group composed of luminaries from the Crypto industry.”

Sacks will also chair this council, according to Trump, and Hines will work with Sacks to “foster innovation and growth in the digital assets space, while ensuring industry leaders have the resources they need to succeed.”

“Together, they will create an environment where this industry can flourish and remain a cornerstone of our Nation’s technological advancement,” Trump said.

Kratsios and Parker both served in Trump’s first term. Kratsios was the chief technology officer of the United States and the under-secretary of defense for research and engineering. He was awarded the Defense Department’s Distinguished Public Service Medal. Parker was Trump’s deputy chief technology officer and was the founding director of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Office.

Hines and Sriram are newcomers. Trump highlighted that Hines graduated from Yale University and Wake Forest University Law School, and Sriram worked at Microsoft and was a founding member of Windows Azure.

“Together, we will unleash scientific breakthroughs, ensure America’s technological dominance, and usher in a Golden Age of American Innovation,” Trump wrote.

The president-elect also nominated Judge Stephen Vaden to the role of deputy secretary of the Department of Agriculture.

“In my First Term, Stephen was the General Counsel of the Department of Agriculture, and a Member of the Board of the Commodity Credit Corporation, where he won two cases before the United States Supreme Court, relocated and reorganized the Agencies that comprise the Department to better serve Rural America, and engaged in substantial regulatory reform,” Trump said on Truth Social.

Vaden was also confirmed by the Senate in 2020 to be an Article III Judge on the Court of International Trade.

Scott Kupor, former chairman of the National Venture Capital Association and current managing partner of Andreessen Horowitz, was picked to be the director of the Office of Personnel Management.

Katie Miller—who served as the press secretary for Vice President Mike Pence and the deputy press secretary for the Department of Homeland Security during Trump’s first term, and is the current transition team spokesperson for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—will be joining the new Department of Government Efficiency. She is also the wife of Trump’s incoming deputy chief of staff for policy, Stephen Miller.

More Ambassador Nominations

Trump announced that his former senior director of Western Hemisphere affairs, Mauricio Claver-Carone, was his pick to be the State Department’s special envoy for Latin America at the same time he released comments suggesting the United States should reclaim the Panama Canal.

“Over the last four years, chaos and anarchy have engulfed our Borders,” Trump said on Truth Social. ”It is time to restore order in our own hemisphere. Mauricio knows the region and how to put America’s interests FIRST.”

The president-elect nominated PayPal co-founder Ken Howery to be the United States’ new ambassador to the Kingdom of Denmark, reaffirming his first-term stance that the island of Greenland—currently a Danish territory—should be owned by the United States.

“For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity,” Trump said in his Truth Social announcement. ”Ken will do a wonderful job in representing the interests of the United States.”

Howery previously served as Trump’s ambassador to Sweden.

Callista Gingrich, wife of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), was nominated by Trump to be the new ambassador to Switzerland.

“Callista previously served, with distinction, as my Ambassador to the Holy See,” Trump said in his announcement on Truth Social. ”During her tenure, Callista worked to advance and defend international religious freedom, combat human trafficking, and provide humanitarian assistance around the World.”

Ambassador nominations will require approval by the Senate.