Michigan GOP Chair Pete Hoekstra speaks ahead of former President Donald Trump at a campaign event in Detroit on Oct. 18, 2024. (Photo: Anna Liz Nichols)
President-elect Donald Trump has selected Michigan GOP Chair and former U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra to be the next U.S. Ambassador to Canada.
Trump said in a written statement announcing the appointment Wednesday that he’s grateful for Hoekstra’s help in delivering Michigan, a battleground state, for the Republican Party in November.
In addition to serving nearly two decades in Congress representing Michigan from 1993 to 2011, Hoekstra served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands from 2018 to 2021.
“In my Second Term, Pete will help me once again put AMERICA FIRST,” Trump said.” He did an outstanding job as United States Ambassador to the Netherlands during our first four years, and I am confident that he will continue to represent our Country well in this new role. Thank you, Pete!”
With Hoekstra taking the role, the Michigan Republican Party will have to select a new leader. The state party had some difficulty in determining leadership earlier this year as the party went through a term of fragmentation after members of the party ousted then-chair Kristina Karamo from leadership in January. Weeks of legal proceedings followed as Karamo maintained she was the rightful chair of the party.
In February, the Republican National Committee named Hoekstra, who had received Trump’s approval for the position, as chair of Michigan’s Republican Party.