{"id":209104,"date":"2026-03-28T01:03:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T01:03:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/209104\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T01:03:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T01:03:16","slug":"will-trump-renominate-attorney-dan-newlin-as-ambassador","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/209104\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Trump renominate attorney Dan Newlin as ambassador?"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than a year after he was first tapped, the nomination of Trump-supporting Orlando attorney Dan Newlin<\/a> as ambassador to Colombia appears to be in peril.<\/p>\n

Newlin, the owner and CEO of his own law firm and a former Orange County deputy sheriff, was picked by President Trump to be his top diplomat to the South American country ahead of Trump\u2019s 2025 inauguration. But he never received a hearing in the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which has been slow to act on many ambassador posts.<\/p>\n

On Jan. 3, the first day of the second session of the 119th Congress, Newlin\u2019s nomination was sent back to Trump under Senate rules that all nominations not finalized must be returned if the Senate adjourns for 30 days. To be considered again, Newlin would have to be re-nominated.<\/p>\n

Trump \u2013 at least so far \u2013 hasn\u2019t done so.<\/p>\n

\"ElectronicElectronic billboards advertisements for attorney Dan Newlin, and political advertisements for Donald Trump also paid by for the attorney; along I-4 near the Conroy Road Exit 78, on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. <\/p>\n

(Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda\/ Orlando Sentinel)<\/p>\n

As of Thursday, no one is currently nominated for the Colombian ambassadorship, even as tensions rise in the region. The New York Times reported<\/a> Friday that Colombian President Gustavo Petro is under criminal investigation by at least two federal prosecutors for alleged ties to drug traffickers, which Petro denied on social media.<\/p>\n

On Jan. 3, the same day Newlin\u2019s nomination was returned to the White House, U.S. military forces raided the neighboring country of Venezuela and captured its then-president Nicolas Maduro, who was charged with narcoterrorism and other criminal charges. Trump was asked about a potential similar action in Colombia soon after, and he replied \u201cSounds good to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Newlin, a former donor to Democratic campaigns, first raised eyebrows among Central Florida politicos in February 2024 when he wore a red Make America Great Again hat<\/a> in an otherwise apolitical local Super Bowl ad.<\/p>\n

Over the course of the year, he said he spent more than $1 million for electronic billboards promoting the campaign in Florida and three swing states, and later said he raised more than $8 million for Trump at a fundraiser at his Windermere-area home.<\/p>\n

In nominating Newlin in December 2024, Trump touted his law enforcement credentials.<\/p>\n

\u201cDan demonstrated exceptional investigative skills, successfully taking hundreds of violent offenders off the streets, including those involved in armed robbery, gang violence, human trafficking, and illegal gun and narcotics trafficking,\u201d Trump wrote on a Truth Social post at the time.<\/p>\n

Newlin, who owns a horse ranch in Colombia, posted on X that he accepted the nomination \u201cwith both immense pride and a deep sense of responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe gravity of this moment was not lost on me; speaking with the President of the United States is an extraordinary experience that few are privileged to have,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

Newlin and the White House didn\u2019t respond to emailed questions about his current status.<\/p>\n

At least two other Florida men whose nominations were sent back on Jan. 3 have been re-nominated. On Jan. 13, Trump again tapped attorney Michael Kavoukjian as ambassador to Norway and restaurateur Lee Lipton as the Ambassador to the Philippines.<\/p>\n

In addition, Nick Adams, an \u201calpha male influencer,\u201d got a backup gig after his nomination as ambassador to Malaysia was pulled. Trump named him a Special Presidential Envoy for American Tourism, Exceptionalism, and Values.<\/p>\n

With no ambassador, State Department diplomats have served as temporary \u201cCharg\u00e9 d\u2019Affaires\u201d in charge of the Bogot\u00e1 embassy. John McNamara served in that role from February 2025 until last month, when he was succeeded by fellow diplomat Jarahn Hillsman.<\/p>\n

\"Colombia'sColombia\u2019s President Gustavo Petro speaks after voting during legislative elections in Bogota, Colombia, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo\/Fernando Vergara)<\/p>\n

The embassy has a lot on its plate. In addition to the alleged investigations against President Petro, Colombia this month accused its neighbor Ecuador and its Trump-supporting president Daniel Noboa of bombing targets inside Colombian territory amid a joint anti-narcoterrorism exercise with the U.S.<\/a><\/p>\n

Petro claimed that the charred remains of nearly 30 people had been found near the border, according to the Guardian.<\/p>\n

Even Tom Hanks\u2019 son has been caught in diplomatic limbo in the country. Chet Hanks claimed earlier this month he was \u201cstuck\u201d in Colombia without his U.S. passport.<\/p>\n

In a video,<\/a> Chet Hanks said he could try to go the the U.S. embassy Newlin was once tapped to run, but does not want to leave the city of Medell\u00edn.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to get to Bogot\u00e1,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u201cSo, yeah, free me. Free me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than a year after he was first tapped, the nomination of Trump-supporting Orlando attorney Dan Newlin as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":209105,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[28,114,266,115,1335,139,141,140,109],"class_list":["post-209104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-florida","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-orange-county","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-social"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209104\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/209105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}