WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump on Monday nominated Kimberly Greenwood, the wife of “God Bless the USA” singer Lee Greenwood, to become the U.S. ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean.
The Trump administration included Kimberly Greenwood among a group of ambassadorial nominees submitted to the U.S. Senate for confirmation.
Later Monday, Greenwood shared an Instagram photo of herself with her husband and Trump while thanking the president for selecting her.
“Mr. President, thank you for believing in me and entrusting me with this extraordinary opportunity to serve,” she wrote.
Lee Greenwood is one of Trump’s favored performers, and his signature patriotic song has served as Trump’s walk-on music at political events for years. The president also partnered with the singer to sell a $59.99 “God Bless the USA Bible.”
In an Instagram post celebrating his wife’s nomination, Lee Greenwood said she had worked with Trump for 18 years, during the period when Trump owned the Miss Universe Organization and Kimberly Greenwood oversaw state pageants.
The nomination requires Senate confirmation. If approved, Kimberly Greenwood would serve simultaneously as U.S. ambassador to Barbados and, without additional compensation, as ambassador to St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Presidents from both major parties have historically awarded a substantial share of coveted ambassadorships to donors and prominent political supporters.
Democratic President Joe Biden appointed Roger Nyhus, a prominent Seattle business leader and Democratic donor, to the same diplomatic post for which Trump nominated Kimberly Greenwood.
Most political appointees drawn from donor and supporter networks have limited influence over U.S. foreign policy. At times, however, such appointments have created problems for the presidents who made them.
Trump also nominated outgoing U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, on Monday to serve as his leading envoy in Riyadh.
Hunt is nearing the end of his second term representing his Houston-area district. In the March 2026 Texas Republican primary for the U.S. Senate, he finished third behind Ken Paxton and John Cornyn.
If confirmed, Hunt would arrive in Riyadh at a particularly difficult time in the Middle East, with the U.S.- and Israeli-led war against Iran continuing without a clear end and fighting between Saudi forces and Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen intensifying.
Before entering politics, Hunt served as a U.S. Army officer and worked as a diplomatic liaison in Saudi Arabia.
In a post on X, Hunt said he understood “the strategic importance of the partnership between the United States and Saudi Arabia and the profound responsibility of this position.”
The White House on Monday also announced Trump’s nominees for vacant ambassadorial roles in Haiti, Somalia, Djibouti and Suriname.
During his first term, Trump’s appointees included hotelier and $1 million inaugural contributor Gordon Sondland, who served as chief envoy to the European Union. Sondland provided unflattering testimony about Trump during his first impeachment, which centered on allegations Trump sought help from Ukrainian authorities to undermine Biden ahead of the 2020 presidential election. Sondland was later fired by Trump.
Trump donor-turned-envoy Jeffrey Ross Gunter left locals in relatively crime-free Reykjavik, Iceland, aghast over his request to hire armed bodyguards.
In Britain, Ambassador Robert “Woody” Johnson faced accusations he tried to steer golf’s British Open toward a Trump resort in Scotland and made racist and sexist comments.
