President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he will name real estate investor and philanthropist Steven Witkoff to be a special envoy to the Middle East.
In a statement, Trump said that Witkoff, a New York investor who owns a large property portfolio in New York and other major U.S. cities, “has made every project and community he has been involved with stronger and more prosperous.” He added: “Steve will be an unrelenting Voice for PEACE, and make us all proud.”
Witkoff was already appointed the co-chair of Trump’s inauguration this January, alongside GOP donor and former Sen. Kelly Loeffler of Georgia. He’s also a close friend of the president-elect, speaking at the Republican National Convention in July 2024. Witkoff was also on the golf course with Trump during a September assassination attempt against him in Florida.
It is unclear what the role of Middle East special envoy will entail under Trump, as special envoys are not standard diplomats. President Joe Biden appointed two Middle East special envoys, Lise Grande and David Satterfield, who specifically focus on humanitarian issues in the region emerging from the war in the Gaza Strip. And Trump appointed longtime adviser and lawyer Jason Greenblatt as a special envoy to the Middle East to help with the negotiations of the Abraham Accords, which saw Israel and four Arab countries normalize diplomatic relations.
As of 2023, special envoys are potentially subject to Senate confirmation, though the White House has managed to circumvent that law, as exhibited by the appointment of special climate envoy John Podesta. It is also unclear whether Trump plans to subject Witkoff to a confirmation process, though it is unlikely that he would encounter stiff resistance from Senate Republicans.
Witkoff was not the only Middle East diplomat whose role Trump announced on Tuesday. Trump also announced that he was appointing former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee the U.S. ambassador to Israel.