Exclusive / Trump’s Saudi ambassador pick faces early hurdles - Semafor

President Donald Trump’s pick for ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, is staring down a potentially difficult confirmation fight due to hurdles from a tight Senate calendar and skepticism among Republicans.

Hunt’s nomination this week came just months after he finished third in the Texas Republican Senate primary. Hunt had entered the race against Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Attorney General Ken Paxton, turning the contentious contest into a three-way fight. Now Trump has tapped Hunt, a former Army officer who served twice in Saudi Arabia as a diplomatic liaison, for the high-profile diplomatic post.

Retiring Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., could be an obstacle to Hunt’s confirmation and is likely to block Hunt’s nomination from moving as part of any large, en bloc nomination package. Tillis has previously used nominations as leverage to press the Trump administration on other issues; he’s currently holding up Kari Lake’s nomination to be ambassador to Jamaica, for instance.

Asked about Hunt’s nomination, Tillis told Semafor, “I gotta look into the details.”

“Right now, with the limited number of session days that we have left, if they don’t get into an en bloc package, they’re going to die,” Tillis continued. “That’s how I’m holding Kari Lake. I mean, there’s some people saying, ‘Please let her go to Jamaica,’ but the reality is once she gets Senate confirmed, she could go other places in acting roles. And that’s what I’m not going to allow.”

“The truth is, the odds that I’ll let him go as an en bloc nominee are almost zero, but it needs some more work,” he said.

The timing could also give Tillis additional leverage. The Senate is in its final legislative sprint through October before adjourning ahead of the midterm elections, meaning it would be difficult to fit a confirmation hearing, committee vote, and potential floor vote into the remaining calendar.

If Hunt’s hearings slip until after the midterms, the calculus could change entirely — particularly if the Republicans lose seats in the Senate.

Unified Republican support could also be a challenge.

Asked about Trump’s pick, Cornyn told Semafor he is an “interesting choice. An interesting choice in many, many ways.” He declined to weigh in further.

When Hunt ran against Cornyn and Paxton in the Texas Republican Senate race, the contest grew increasingly bitter as the primary unfolded. Cornyn’s campaign called Hunt “fake MAGA,” and Hunt responded by saying Cornyn’s record “reads like a registered Democrat.”

Cornyn’s reaction — after the two Republicans spent months attacking each other on the campaign trail — adds further uncertainty as Hunt seeks Republican support.

Other members of the Foreign Relations Committee were cautious.

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., told Semafor, “I don’t know him well enough, so looking forward to seeing more.”

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, told Semafor, “You’re that first person that’s mentioned that name.”

To be sure, Hunt has some early support: fellow Texan Sen. Ted Cruz told Semafor, “I think Wesley’s terrific.”

Hunt also has a potential vulnerability in his own record, particularly given the country he has been nominated to serve.

In December 2025, Hunt posted a video describing his time as a diplomatic liaison officer in Saudi Arabia after the US operation that killed Osama bin Laden. Hunt said he stopped going to work for two weeks because he feared bin Laden sympathizers in Riyadh could target American forces.

“These are our allies that we are working with every single day, and we were actually fearful of our lives,” Hunt said at the time. “Now, imagine letting people, with that mindset, come to our country, and you wonder why we are waking up to having dead national guardsmen… the mentality of these people never ended. It never stops.
The jihad never ends. We are the infidel.”

The comments could become a focus of questioning when Hunt appears before the Foreign Relations Committee.

Hunt’s office did not respond to a request for comment. In a post on X after the nomination was announced, Hunt said he was “profoundly grateful to President Trump for his confidence in me and for the extraordinary honor of being selected.”

Trump nominated Hunt at a time Saudi Arabia faces increased military pressure from Iran-backed forces.

Houthi fighters in Yemen have increased attacks against targets in Saudi Arabia, and the kingdom’s East-West oil pipeline, a key route for Saudi crude exports, has shut down amid attacks.

With Saudi Arabia facing intensified security challenges and seeking increased US support, Hunt’s nomination could be a welcome signal to Riyadh by telegraphing the importance of the relationship.

There is also a broader shortage of confirmed US ambassadors in the Middle East. For Saudi Arabia, having a confirmed ambassador in Riyadh would provide another direct channel to the Trump administration, and in the case of Hunt, one with an extensive military background and close ties to congressional Republicans.