{"id":683940,"date":"2026-05-20T23:00:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T23:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/683940\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T23:00:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T23:00:17","slug":"donald-trump-update-us-presidents-pick-for-ambassador-to-australia-david-brat-faces-senate-committee-nomination-hearing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/683940\/","title":{"rendered":"Donald Trump update: US president’s pick for ambassador to Australia David Brat faces Senate committee nomination hearing"},"content":{"rendered":"

US<\/a> President Donald Trump<\/a>‘s pick for ambassador to Australia<\/a> has pledged to focus on AUKUS<\/a>, critical minerals and China<\/a>‘s growing influence in the region if confirmed for the role.<\/p>\n

Republican former House representative from Virginia David Brat was urged to push for Australia’s cooperation on all three topics, along with the fight against antisemitism, in a relatively gentle Senate grilling in a nomination hearing on Wednesday morning (early Thursday AEST).<\/p>\n

\"\"\/David Brat when he was a Virginia representative in 2017. (AP Photo\/J Scott Applewhite)<\/p>\n

“That’s [the rare earths deal] something that is really necessary for us, for the free world, really, and again, that has helped reinvigorate our relationship,” Risch said.<\/p>\n

“I know Australia’s got some – we think we have a China problem here, they got a real China problem there.”<\/p>\n

Brat named critical minerals and commercial diplomacy, defence cooperation and partnership in the Indo-Pacific region as his three key focus areas.<\/p>\n

He also pledged to work on getting more US companies into Australia and encourage the $1 trillion superannuation industry to invest more in the US.<\/p>\n

“If confirmed, I would also continue to strengthen defence cooperation, including working with Congress to further streamline defence trade controls amidst China’s unprecedented military buildup,” he said.<\/p>\n

“The US-Australia alliance is an essential pillar of regional stability and deterrence.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"\/Jim Risch chaired a Senate committee confirmation hearing on Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Senate Foreign Relations Committee)<\/p>\n

Brat was broadly praised by both Republicans and Democrats in a hearing that focused more attention on some of the other nominees being confirmed at the same time.<\/p>\n

But committee ranking member Senator Jeanne Shaheen did criticise the 15-month delay in finding someone to fill the post in Canberra.<\/p>\n

“The administration’s prolonged review of AUKUS has created uncertainty that I think has merely been unnecessary at a critical time in the region,” she said.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/Republican former House representative from Virginia David Brat faced a Senate committee confirmation hearing on Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Senate Foreign Relations Committee)<\/p>\n

“It took more than a year for the administration to nominate someone to this post, and I’m glad that they finally have.<\/p>\n

“I’m delighted because it’s delays like that that weaken American credibility with our allies.”<\/p>\n

Australia has already spent billions of dollars on AUKUS infrastructure in a deal that includes the purchase of eight nuclear-propelled submarines from the US and UK and is estimated to cost more than $360\ufeff billion in the coming decades.<\/p>\n

Democrat Senator Tim Kaine said on a recent trip to Australia he’d seen some “anxiety” that Australian firms would be cut out of the work in favour of US companies.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"\/(From left) Brock Dahl, Michael Kavoukjian, Michelle Steel, Eric Wendt and David Brat faced a Senate committee confirmation hearing on Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Senate Foreign Relations Committee)<\/p>\n

He asked Brat to “make sure the Australian firms know that they’re also really welcome” and push for joint-venture partnerships.<\/p>\n

Brat, the senior vice president of business relations at Liberty University, was a somewhat unexpected pick described by former White House staffer Cory Alpert as a “bargain-bin ambassador”.<\/p>\n

“The US no longer has significant diplomatic infrastructure. Likewise, Trump has hollowed out the National Security Council, normally responsible for coordinating foreign policy across the administration.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“When other countries engage with the United States now, it’s not through the broad apparatus of the State Department or the aid programs that were gutted under Elon Musk’s watch.<\/p>\n

“Instead, Trump expects world leaders to react to his Truth Social posts, or to show up to the White House, hat in hand.”<\/p>\n

Further dates to vote on Brat’s confirmation in the committee and in the Senate itself have yet to be scheduled.<\/p>\n

NEVER MISS A STORY: Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"US President Donald Trump‘s pick for ambassador to Australia has pledged to focus on AUKUS, critical minerals and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":683941,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-683940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=683940"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683940\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/683941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=683940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=683940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=683940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}