WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Monday nominated U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt, a Houston Republican who mounted an unsuccessful Senate bid earlier this year, to be ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
Hunt is a second-term congressman and retired Army captain who was deployed twice to Saudi Arabia as a diplomatic liaison officer. He has been a close ally of Trump, endorsing the then-former president shortly after he launched his reelection bid in 2022. Hunt was also a surrogate for Trump’s campaign in 2024, when he had a speaking slot at the Republican National Convention.
“Every chapter of my life has reinforced the same conviction: America is worth fighting for,” Hunt wrote on X Monday. “Now, I have been called to serve our country once again. Thank you President Trump for the honor.”
Hunt’s congressional career came to a halt after he ran for U.S. Senate instead of reelection to the House. He announced a long-shot Senate bid in 2025 against two statewide elected officials — Sen. John Cornyn and Attorney General Ken Paxton — in the hopes of winning over Republican primary voters more conservative than Cornyn but troubled by Paxton’s ethical baggage.
Hunt’s Senate run was met with disdain from the Republican establishment in Washington, which was firmly behind Cornyn, and guaranteed that the contentious contest would head to a runoff. In the weeks leading up to the March election, allies of the Cornyn and Paxton camps spent on negative ads against Hunt.
Shortly after entering the race, Hunt told The Texas Tribune that the president did not tell him to enter the contest or to stay out. Trump did not endorse a candidate during the primary before giving Paxton his stamp of approval in the final week of the runoff election.
The Houston congressman ultimately finished a distant third with 13.5% of the vote. Paxton went on to beat Cornyn decisively in the May runoff.
In his concession speech in March, Hunt suggested he had plans to run for office again, telling supporters that “this will not be the last time you see my name on a ballot.”
Hunt must be confirmed by the Senate to serve as ambassador. The upper chamber has only two weeks in session until Election Day, meaning scheduling a vote in the near future could be difficult.
The ambassadorship to Saudi Arabia has been filled on an interim basis since Trump took office for his second term. In his first term, the Riyadh posting was held by retired Army general and former U.S. Central Command commander John Abizaid.
On the campaign trail, Hunt discussed his time in Saudi Arabia, noting he was in the country when the U.S. government killed Osama bin Laden in 2011 and that he did not go to work for two weeks afterward “for fear of bin Laden sympathizers in Saudi Arabia and in Riyadh that could have been possibly targeting American coalition forces.”
Several other Texans have been nominated for ambassadorships in Trump’s second term, including Houston Rockets owner Tillman Fertitta, the ambassador to Italy; Houston Republican megadonor Mindy Hildebrand, who is ambassador to Costa Rica; and Dallas businessman Joseph Popolo, another Republican donor, who serves as ambassador to the Netherlands.
