US still has no UN ambassador as world leaders convene amid multifront crises

After astir 150 days since President Donald Trump entered office, the U.S. inactive does not person an ambassador to the United Nations contempt geopolitics playing a cornerstone relation successful his 2nd term.

Following the withdrawal of Elise Stefanik from the information successful precocious March implicit concerns that Republicans would not beryllium capable to clasp onto her New York spot successful the lawsuit of a peculiar election, Trump nominated erstwhile National Security Advisor Mike Waltz for the apical occupation connected May 1.

Though his nomination process appears to beryllium conscionable present moving guardant arsenic the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which needs to ballot connected his confirmation earlier a afloat Senate ballot tin beryllium cast, lone conscionable confirmed receipt of the information connected Thursday. 

Michael Waltz (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

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The archetypal question successful Waltz’s information process comes much than 45 days aft it was archetypal announced contempt comments to Fox News Digital successful early May by a GOP staffer who said, "The committee has been moving astatine a historically accelerated gait and this information volition beryllium a precedence moving forward."

Though connected Monday the committee was incapable to corroborate erstwhile Waltz’s proceeding and consequent ballot would instrumentality place.  

When asked by Fox News Digital wherefore it had lone conscionable confirmed receipt of the nomination, the committee directed questions regarding the timeline to the White House. 

The White House did not instantly respond to Fox News Digital’s questions astir what the holdup could be, fixed that different nominations, similar that of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, were pushed done wrong 5 days of Trump entering the Oval Office. 

Though the deficiency of a U.S. ambassador to the U.N. is not needfully "dangerous," it weakens the U.S.’s quality to power large geopolitical situations astatine a clip erstwhile the U.S. is facing immoderate of its top multifront geopolitical challenges since World War II.

Mike Waltz, left, and Pete Hegseth (Reuters/Brian Snyder)

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"There are downsides diplomatically to not having elder enactment and supporting governmental unit successful New York. It lessens U.S. power and its quality to negociate astatine the apical level with different missions and the Secretariat," Brett Schaefer, elder chap astatine the American Enterprise Institute and an adept connected multilateral treaties and planetary organizations similar the U.N., told Fox News Digital.

Schaefer explained that though the U.S. does not person a Senate-approved authoritative successful spot astatine the U.N., it does not mean the medication does not person representatives astatine U.N. office successful New York moving to propulsion U.S. interests.

The U.S., arsenic a imperishable subordinate of the U.N. Security Council, continues to clasp its presumption and quality to usage veto powers, should large geopolitical argumentation travel into effect, similar the usage of snapback sanctions against Iran.

Though the U.S. has practice should an emergency gathering beryllium called, arsenic 1 was implicit the play by Iran pursuing Israel’s Thursday nighttime subject strikes, the ambassador is seen arsenic having the nonstop receptor of the president and tin truthful beryllium much influential diplomatically erstwhile it tops to the apical planetary body.

The U.N. Security Council meets successful New York City connected June 13, 2025. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

"The United Nations is simply a superior playground whether you similar it oregon not," Jonathan Wachtel, who served arsenic counsel to the U.S. imperishable typical to the United Nations during the erstwhile Trump administration, told Fox News Digital, adding that determination are arguments for betterment and argumentation changes. "But astatine the extremity of the time it's a flash constituent for each struggle successful the world, and it's important to person the practice of the United States astatine the satellite body." 

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Wachtel besides pointed retired that with each the conflicts astir the world, whether the U.S. is straight progressive oregon not, including Russia's warfare successful Ukraine, Israel's warfare against Iran and successful Gaza, arsenic good arsenic broader crises similar satellite hunger, Washington needs its dependable heard, different its adversaries volition measurement in. 

"[There's] conscionable excessively galore things going connected successful the satellite and excessively overmuch crushed to cover," Wachtel added. "And alternatively of the U.S. dependable heard [at the U.N.], you're going to person the property corps present and diplomats listening much to the arguments of our adversaries, frankly speaking."

Diana Stancy contributed to this report.