Trump names former Georgia senator as his choice for ambassador to China

David Perdue pushed Mr Trump’s debunked lies about electoral fraud during a failed bid for Georgia governor.

By contributor By Colleen Long and Aamer Madhani, Associated Press
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David Perdue
Former US senator David Perdue has been named as Donald Trump’s choice for US ambassador to China (Brynn Anderson/AP)

President-elect Donald Trump said he has selected former senator David Perdue of Georgia to serve as his ambassador to China.

His choice sees him leaning on a former business executive turned politician to serve as the administration’s envoy to America’s most potent economic and military adversary.

Mr Trump said in a social media post that Mr Perdue “brings valuable expertise to help build our relationship with China”.

Mr Perdue lost his Senate seat to Democrat Jon Ossoff four years ago and ran unsuccessfully in a 2022 primary against Georgia Governor Brian Kemp. Mr Perdue pushed Mr Trump’s debunked lies about electoral fraud during his failed bid for Georgia governor.

President-elect Donald Trump
President-elect Donald Trump takes the stage before speaking at the FOX Nation Patriot Awards on Thursday in New York (Heather Khalifa/AP)

During his time in the Senate, Mr Perdue was labelled as “anti-China” in a 2019 Chinese think tank report. The former Georgia politician advocated that the US needed to build a more robust naval force to cope with threats, including from China.

Before launching his political career, Mr Perdue held a string of top executive positions, including at Sara Lee, Reebok and Dollar General.

Economic tensions will be a big part of the US-China picture for the new administration.

Mr Trump has threatened to impose sweeping new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China as soon as he takes office as part of his effort to crack down on illegal immigration and drugs.

He said he would impose a 25% tax on all products entering the country from Canada and Mexico, and an additional 10% tariff on goods from China, as one of his first executive orders.