President Donald Trump announced on Saturday, August 9, 2025, that Tammy Bruce, the current spokeswoman for the State Department, is his pick for the next deputy representative of the United States to the United Nations. The move, revealed on Trump’s Truth Social account, marks a significant shift for Bruce, a former conservative radio talk show host and longtime Fox News contributor who only joined the Trump administration in January of this year. If confirmed by the Senate, Bruce would step into an ambassadorial role at a time of continued turbulence and transition in U.S. foreign policy.
"Tammy has done a fantastic job in her State Department role and will represent our Country brilliantly at the United Nations," Trump declared, according to The New York Times. The nomination, which requires Senate approval, would see Bruce serving under Michael Waltz, Trump’s former national security adviser. Waltz himself is still awaiting Senate confirmation for the post of U.S. ambassador to the U.N., after being nominated in May 2025. His nomination process has been complicated by controversy over a Signal group chat in which sensitive military information was inadvertently exposed to a journalist.
Bruce’s appointment comes at a time when the Trump administration has taken a series of assertive—and, at times, contentious—actions on the world stage. As State Department spokeswoman, Bruce has regularly defended the administration’s approach to Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, the decision to withdraw the United States from UNESCO (the U.N. cultural agency), and the freeze of nearly all U.S. foreign aid distributed through USAID and the State Department. Each of these moves has drawn international scrutiny and, in some cases, domestic criticism, but Bruce has remained steadfast in her public advocacy for the administration’s "America First" policies.
On X (formerly Twitter), Bruce responded to her nomination by saying, "I’m blessed that in the next few weeks my commitment to advancing America First leadership and values continues on the global stage in this new post." Her statement, as reported by The New York Times, underscores her alignment with Trump’s foreign policy ethos and her readiness to take on a more prominent diplomatic role.
Bruce’s background is anything but conventional for a top diplomatic post. Before joining the Trump administration, she spent over two decades as a political commentator and conservative media personality, most notably with Fox News. Her earlier political life, however, was rooted in Democratic activism. She served as president of the Los Angeles chapter of the National Organization for Women and was a Democratic Party organizer before breaking from the left and embracing conservative causes. On her personal website, Bruce describes her journey as an effort to "expose and help defeat the leftist agenda," a theme that has run through several books she has authored criticizing the American left.
Her lack of prior experience in U.S. foreign policy has not gone unnoticed in Washington. According to Politico, Bruce has cut an unorthodox figure at State Department press briefings, sometimes declining to answer questions in detail and even taking the unusual step of rearranging the seating chart for journalists. Unlike many of the department’s senior appointees, she did not have a preexisting relationship with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and was not considered part of his inner circle. This distance was evident during a briefing in early May, when Bruce appeared unaware that Rubio had just been named interim White House national security adviser—a fact she learned from reporters in the room. "It is clear that I just heard this from you," Bruce admitted, adding wryly that the moment was a "miracle of modern technology and social media."
Despite her outsider status, Bruce has been a visible face for the Trump administration, frequently appearing on Fox News to defend its policies and priorities. Her communication style, however, has sometimes drawn criticism for its lack of specificity and, in some cases, for being out of sync with the department’s leadership. The deputy spokesperson under Bruce has been Tommy Pigott, a former communications leader for the Republican National Committee, but it remains unclear who will replace Bruce as the State Department’s chief spokesperson if she is confirmed for the U.N. post.
Bruce’s conservative credentials have not always insulated her from criticism within the movement. Earlier this summer, she faced pushback from some MAGA-aligned conservatives after telling Israeli i24 News that the United States is "the greatest country on Earth — next to Israel." The remark, which some saw as controversial, was later described by Bruce as having been taken out of context. This episode highlights the delicate balancing act required of public figures operating at the intersection of American and international politics, particularly when navigating the sensitivities of U.S.-Israel relations.
Her nomination is the latest in a series of high-profile personnel changes at the top of the U.S. diplomatic corps. Michael Waltz, who is slated to be her direct superior at the United Nations, was removed from his previous role as national security adviser after the aforementioned Signal chat incident. That episode, which involved the accidental inclusion of a journalist in a conversation about a sensitive military operation in Yemen, brought renewed scrutiny to the administration’s handling of classified information and internal communications.
Bruce’s career trajectory—from Democratic activist and women’s rights leader to conservative media firebrand and now potential U.N. ambassador—reflects the broader realignments within American political life over the past two decades. Her willingness to publicly break with her former allies on the left and embrace Trump’s brand of conservatism has made her a polarizing figure but also a symbol of the ideological shifts that have upended traditional party loyalties.
The Senate confirmation process for Bruce is expected to be closely watched, both for what it reveals about the administration’s foreign policy priorities and for the broader questions it raises about the qualifications and backgrounds of America’s top diplomats. With Michael Waltz’s own confirmation still pending, the leadership team that will represent the U.S. at the United Nations remains in flux—a situation that adds another layer of uncertainty to an already volatile diplomatic landscape.
As the Trump administration continues to chart its course on the global stage, the nomination of Tammy Bruce signals a willingness to elevate unconventional voices and challenge established norms in American diplomacy. Whether this approach will yield the desired results at the United Nations remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: Bruce’s journey from activist to ambassadorial nominee is emblematic of the unpredictable—and often dramatic—turns of contemporary American politics.