Trump nominates Natalie Baker as ambassador to Pakistan
The White House has sent the nomination of the diplomat who has headed the Islamabad mission since January 2025 to the Senate for confirmation.
US President Donald Trump has nominated Natalie Baker, who has headed the American mission in Islamabad since January 2025, as ambassador to Pakistan. A White House statement said the nomination had been sent to the US Senate, where the Foreign Relations Committee will review it before the full chamber votes.
If confirmed, Baker would hold the post formally rather than as chargé d'affaires. Express News reported that the nomination opens the way for a permanent US ambassador in Islamabad after almost two years.
According to the US embassy's website, Baker arrived in Islamabad in August 2024 as deputy chief of mission. She took charge of the mission as chargé d'affaires in January 2025 after the then ambassador, Donald Blome, left the post. Express News reported that she remained the mission's head after her term as deputy chief of mission ended in September.
Before Pakistan she was deputy chief of mission in Doha from August 2021 to July 2024. She has also served as deputy chief of mission and chargé d'affaires of the US mission in Libya, as deputy director of the Iran Regional Presence Office at the US consulate in Dubai, and as counsellor for economic affairs at the US embassy in Kuwait.
Baker was director of the Office of North Africa in the State Department's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs. From 2009 to 2011 she was adviser for political and economic affairs in Libya, at a time when the two countries were normalising relations after a break of nearly 30 years. The embassy website says she was in Libya in February 2011, when the mission evacuated its staff during the revolution.
How the reports differ
Aaj News gave Baker's career history from the US embassy website and set out each step of Senate confirmation. Express News led on what the nomination ends, reporting that Islamabad has gone almost two years without a permanent US ambassador, and said Baker stayed head of the mission after her term as deputy chief of mission ended in September. Aaj News dated her arrival in Islamabad as deputy chief of mission to August 2024 and her move to chargé d'affaires to January 2025, after Donald Blome left the post.
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