Trump names former CIA official Ron Johnson as ambassador to Mexico

President-elect Trump announced Tuesday that Ron Johnson, his one-time ambassador to El Salvador, will serve as ambassador to Mexico in the upcoming administration.

Johnson, who shares a name with the GOP senator from Wisconsin, will take on one of the highest-profile diplomatic posts in the incoming Trump administration. Trump has already threatened Mexico with tariffs if it does not crack down on the flow of immigrants and drugs at the U.S. border, and he spent much of his first term sparring with Mexican leaders regarding the border.

“Ron will work closely with our great Secretary of State Nominee, Marco Rubio, to promote our Nation’s security and prosperity through strong America First Foreign Policies,” Trump posted on Truth Social.

Prior to his stint as ambassador to El Salvador for the final 17 months of Trump’s first term, Johnson served for more than 20 years in the CIA. He is an Army veteran, having served as a Green Beret.

Johnson beat out Trump ally and former Arizona Senate and gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake for the Mexico ambassadorship.

In his first term, Trump appointed Christopher Landau, a lawyer with little diplomatic experience, as ambassador to Mexico.

Landau, whose father was a longtime U.S. diplomat with extensive Latin American experience, was well-received in Mexico as a serious interlocutor, even amid tensions over Trump’s policies toward the country.