Trump nominates Natalie Baker as US ambassador to Pakistan

US President Donald Trump has nominated Natalie Baker, currently chargé d’affaires at the US Embassy in Islamabad, as the next US ambassador to Pakistan, the White House said in a statement.

The nomination has been sent to the Senate, which must confirm her before she can take up the post.

Who is Natalie Baker, the nominee for US ambassador to Pakistan?

Natalie Baker is a US diplomat who has led the embassy in Islamabad since January 2025, after then-ambassador Donald Armin Blome left Pakistan.

She arrived in August 2024 as deputy chief of mission, according to the embassy’s website, and has held senior posts across the Middle East and North Africa.

What happens next in the Senate confirmation process?

The nomination now goes to the US Senate. The Foreign Relations Committee will review her credentials, and the full chamber will then vote on her appointment.

Baker can formally assume the ambassadorial post if the Senate confirms her.

What is Natalie Baker’s diplomatic background?

Baker’s career includes several senior assignments in the Middle East and North Africa. From August 2021 to July 2024, she served as deputy chief of mission at the US Embassy in Doha.

She has also been deputy chief of mission and chargé d’affaires at the US Mission to Libya, deputy director of the Iran Regional Presence Office at the US Consulate in Dubai, and economic counsellor at the US Embassy in Kuwait.

At the State Department in Washington, Baker directed the Office of North African Affairs within the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs. Her other assignments include special assistant in the same bureau, consular officer in Islamabad and cultural affairs officer in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.

What are Natalie Baker’s education and language skills?

Baker holds a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. She graduated with distinction from the US National War College at the National Defense University in 2017.

She speaks Arabic, Spanish, Farsi and Russian.