President-elect Donald Trump announced a trio of picks Wednesday for Latin America ambassadorships, elevating major donors to critical diplomatic postings in the Western Hemisphere.

In a series of late-night Truth Social posts, Trump said he would tap former Conair executive Leandro Rizzuto Jr. as ambassador to the Organization of American States. He also said he would appoint philanthropist and urgent care network executive Peter Lamelas as ambassador to Argentina and personal injury lawyer and former law enforcement officer Dan Newlin to the role of ambassador to Colombia.

Only Rizzuto has diplomatic experience — he served as consul to Bermuda. Lamelas and Newlin will be thrust immediately into complicated diplomatic discussions without that kind of background.

Colombia’s leftist president, Gustavo Petro, has abandoned some key collaboration with the U.S. on combating the flow of narcotics, and both countries have been working to address the ongoing political crisis in neighboring Venezuela.

Lamelas, meanwhile, will have to navigate U.S. policy toward Argentina, a country that has experienced intense economic volatility in recent years. The right-wing populist president, Javier Milei, is actively seeking to court U.S. investment to improve his country’s fortunes.

Both Colombia and Argentina are also regional players, whose relations with the U.S. will be watched closely by other countries in the region.

Lamelas, Rizzuto and Newlin are longtime donors to Trump. Rizzuto donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Trump and boosted conspiracy theories about Trump’s 2016 primary opponents. Newlin spent considerable sums in 2024 on ads and billboards supporting Trump.

Their selections fit into a broader pattern of Trump favoring people with business and law enforcement experience, as well as close allies, for diplomatic postings. Trump’s pick for ambassador to Chile, Brandon Judd, was the former head of the union that represents Border Patrol officers. His picks for ambassadorships in the United Kingdom, France and Turkey all boasted extensive business records and donation records to Trump.

All three positions will require Senate confirmation. Rizzuto could face some opposition. Trump appointed him in 2018 to be ambassador to Barbados, but his nomination stalled in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. His tenure in Bermuda was also controversial and met with protests in the British island territory.

The powerful Congressional Black Caucus is under intense pressure from within to refrain from endorsing any candidates in contested committee leader races — including one of their own.

Several members stood up during the Black Caucus meeting Wednesday afternoon to argue against the group formally endorsing any Democrats in the contested races and instead allow Democratic caucus members to make their own choices, according to two people familiar with the meeting who were granted anonymity to discuss a closed-door event. Such a move would signal a stunning shift for the group, especially if it refrains from backing ailing House Agriculture ranking member Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.).

Black Caucus members left the Wednesday meeting without making a decision on the endorsement matter, according to the two people. Asked later about the timing of endorsements for the ranking member contests, incoming Black Caucus chair Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) said they were still being decided.

Read more here.

CHICAGO — Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said he’s open to working with President-elect Donald Trump’s new border czar — but said he was skeptical the incoming official had the “authority” to do everything he said.

“Being a border czar is not an official position in the government, and it will be up to the President of the United States and up to the leaders of the Customs and Border Patrol to make decisions about how we’ll manage the border,” Pritzker said.

Trump’s incoming border czar, Tom Homan, visited Chicago on Monday and said both Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson “suck” for their comments about not working with federal agents on deportations. Illinois is a sanctuary state and Chicago is a sanctuary city, meaning there are laws and ordinances that prevent local law enforcement from working with ICE.

Homan spoke at a Chicago GOP gathering and said the city would be ground zero for “the biggest deportation operation this country has ever seen.”

Pritzker dismissed Homan’s comments as political rhetoric but said he should be “serving Democrats and Republicans. If you take a position in the executive branch, you serve all of the people of the United States.”

Pritzker said he agrees that “violent criminals who are undocumented and convicted of violent crime should be deported.” Asked if that meant he would work with federal agents to allow deportation of convicted violent criminals, Pritzker said, ‘Yes. Sure, just as I do every day with federal and state law enforcement on other matters.”

Trump has also promised to bring in National Guard units to help in the new administration’s deportation efforts. Pritzker said he would reject any attempt to use the Illinois National Guard to assist ICE, and he would reject Guard units from other states coming to Illinois.

“I do not believe that we should be pitting one state’s National Guard against another state,” said Pritziker. “I think that’s un-American.”