Woody Johnson, the billionaire owner of the New York Jets football team, will be Donald Trump’s pick for ambassador to the United Kingdom, the president-elect hinted Thursday.
{mosads}At a luncheon in Washington, Trump pointed to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and noted that he was sitting next to “the ambassador Woody Johnson.” Trump also said Johnson was “going to St. James,” Reuters reports, a reference to the Court of St. James where ambassadors to the U.K. are accredited.
A Trump transition team official confirmed the selection to NBC News.
Johnson, a member of the Johnson & Johnson family, has known the real estate mogul for years.
He started the 2016 campaign as ex-Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s finance chairman, drawing a critical tweet from Trump last January that dinged both Johnson and his football team.
“Woody Johnson, owner of the NYJets, is @JebBush’s finance chairman. If Woody would’ve been w/me, he would’ve been in the playoffs, at least!” Trump tweeted at the time.
But Johnson became a big-time donor to Trump’s presidential bid, and hosted a number of high-dollar fundraisers for him later in the cycle.