Jockeying has begun for ambassadorships in President-elect Donald Trump's administration, with two possible picks enjoying the support of Trump's chief strategist Steve Bannon, The New York Times reported.
According to The Times, it is expected Trump will begin rewarding supporters with appointments to Western Europe or the Caribbean, but could also include donors to his campaign, or to his transition.
"They generally start out more political," Asgeir Sigfusson, the communications director for the American Foreign Service Association, told The Times. "The numbers will even out."
The Times reported Jon Huntsman, who served as ambassador to China in the Obama administration, is being eyed for Japan, and Michèle Flournoy, a Pentagon official in the Obama administration, as an ambassador to NATO.
Both have been talked up by Bannon, The Times reported.
Some donors and longtime Republicans angling for appointments could get close scrutiny during conformation hearings, The Times reported – including New York developer Peter Kalikow, who filed for personal bankruptcy when he owned The New York Post more than two decades ago, and Georgette Mosbacher, a socialite whose husband, now deceased, was the focus of a lawsuit over a flawed census count in 1990.
At least two possible candidates from the donor community are likely picks, according to The Times: Lewis Eisenberg, the Republican National Committee finance chairman, for Italy, and New York Jets football team owner Woody Johnson, for Britain.
Joseph Forgione, passed over for secretary of housing and development, and William Simon Jr., an ally of Rudy Giuliani, have support to become ambassador to the Vatican, The Times reported.
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