Ex-envoy to Israel David Friedman tops Trump’s list for UN ambassador

President Donald Trump reveals that roughly 30 people are being considered to lead the US mission to the United Nations after Elise Stefanik’s nomination was pulled – with former American Ambassador to Israel David Friedman at the top of the list.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

President Donald Trump is considering former US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman for the role of  Ambassador to the United Nations, after declining to send Friedman back as envoy to Israel.

Friedman, 66, had previously served as an attorney representing Trump before his first term in office, and was tapped after Trump’s 2016 election victory to join the transition team.

During Trump’s first term, Friedman served as ambassador to Israel and was involved in the 2020 Abraham Accords.

When Trump returned to office in 2025, however, he selected former Arkansas Governor and 2008 Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee to serve as ambassador to Israel.

On Monday, Trump told reporters that he is currently assessing candidates to replace New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik as his nominee for UN ambassador.

While Trump had tapped Stefanik to lead the US mission following the November 2024 election, last week he requested that Stefanik withdraw herself from consideration, in order to preserve Republican control in the House of Representatives.

Republicans retained control of the lower chamber of Congress in last November’s election, though the GOP’s margin shrank from 222 seats out of 435 in 2022 to just 220, with Democrats winning 215 seats – three short of a majority.

With two Republican-won seats currently vacant, the GOP majority is now at the 218 bare minimum for an outright majority.

The president revealed Monday that roughly 30 candidates are under consideration, mentioning Friedman by name, along with former ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell.

“I can tell you that for the replacement, we have a lot of people that have asked about it and would like to do it,” Trump said.

“David Friedman, Ric Grenell, and maybe 30 other people. Everyone loves that position. That’s a star-making position. And so we’ll see what happens. But we have a lot of people that are interested in going to the United Nations, as you can imagine.”