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Hoekstra previously served as ambassador to the Netherlands during Trump's first presidency
Darren Major · CBC News
Pete Hoekstra, who served in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Michigan's second district from 1993 until 2011, has been named by U.S. president-elect Donald Trump as his choice for ambassador to Canada. (Paul Sancya/The Associated Press)
U.S. president-elect Donald Trump has tapped former Michigan congressman Pete Hoekstra to be his ambassador to Canada.
Hoekstra served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1993 until 2011. He also previously served as Trump's ambassador to the Netherlands in the former president's first administration.
"In my second term, Pete will help me once again put America first," Trump said in a statement announcing the nomination.
"I am confident that he will continue to represent our country well in this new role."
In his own statement posted on the social media site X, Hoekstra said he was "honoured for the opportunity."
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Hoekstra is one of Trump's first nominees for an ambassador position. The president-elect has also named nominees for ambassador roles to the United Nations, NATO and Israel.
Bruce Heyman, who had been Obama's envoy to Canada from 2014 to 2017, said in a post on X that the early naming shows the "importance of the relationship," and pointed out that Hoekstra being from a border state gives him "direct knowledge and understanding of Canada."