US President Donald Trump has nominated Natalie Baker, currently serving as charge d’affaires at the US Embassy in Islamabad, to become the next US ambassador to Pakistan, according to a White House statement.
The nomination has been forwarded to the US Senate, where it will first be reviewed by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee before being placed before the full chamber for a confirmation vote. Baker will formally assume the post only after securing Senate approval.
A Career Diplomat With Broad Regional Experience
Baker took over as charge d’affaires in Islamabad in January 2025 following the departure of former ambassador Donald Armin Blome. She had arrived in Pakistan in August 2024 to serve as the embassy’s deputy chief of mission.
Her diplomatic career spans several sensitive and strategically significant assignments:
- Deputy chief of mission at the US Embassy in Doha from August 2021 to July 2024.
- Deputy chief of mission and charge d’affaires at the US Mission to Libya.
- Deputy director of the Iran Regional Presence Office at the US Consulate in Dubai.
- Economic counsellor at the US Embassy in Kuwait.
- Director of the Office of North African Affairs at the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs.
Postings in Libya and the Gulf
Baker served as political and economic counsellor in Libya from 2009 to 2011, a period marking the normalisation of bilateral relations after a suspension of nearly three decades. She remained in the country until the Libyan Revolution forced the US Embassy to evacuate in February 2011.
If confirmed, Baker will take charge of one of Washington’s most closely watched diplomatic missions in South Asia at a time of evolving ties between the United States and Pakistan.
