WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump on Monday nominated Kimberly Greenwood, the wife of “God Bless the USA” singer Lee Greenwood, to be U.S. ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean.
Greenwood was included in a slate of nominees the Trump administration submitted to the U.S. Senate, which must confirm her appointment.
Later Monday, Kimberly Greenwood shared an Instagram photo of herself with Trump and her husband, thanking the president for selecting her for the diplomatic post.
“Mr. President, thank you for believing in me and entrusting me with this extraordinary opportunity to serve,” she wrote.
Lee Greenwood has long been one of Trump’s favored performers. His signature patriotic song, “God Bless the USA,” has served as Trump’s walk-on music at political events for years. Trump and Lee Greenwood also partnered to sell the $59.99 “God Bless the USA Bible.”
In a separate Instagram post celebrating his wife’s nomination, Lee Greenwood said she worked with Trump for 18 years when Trump owned the Miss Universe Organization and she directed state pageants.
If confirmed by the Senate, Kimberly Greenwood would serve simultaneously as U.S. ambassador to Barbados and, without additional pay, as ambassador to St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Presidents of both parties have routinely awarded a sizable share of coveted ambassador posts to major donors and prominent political supporters.
Democratic President Joe Biden appointed Roger Nyhus, a prominent Seattle business leader and Democratic donor, to the same diplomatic role for which Trump has nominated Greenwood.
Most politically appointed ambassadors drawn from the donor and supporter ranks play a limited role in shaping U.S. foreign policy. On occasion, however, such appointments have created problems for presidents.
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Trump on Monday also nominated outgoing U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, to serve as his top envoy to Riyadh.
Hunt is near the end of his second term representing his Houston-area district. He finished third in the March 2026 Texas Republican primary for the U.S. Senate behind Ken Paxton and John Cornyn.
If confirmed, Hunt will head to Riyadh a difficult moment in the Middle East as the U.S. and Israel’s war against Iran continues with no end in sight and as fighting between the Saudis and Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen intensifies.
Before politics, Hunt was a U.S. Army officer who served as a diplomatic liaison in Saudi Arabia.
Hunt in a posting on X 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.
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