US President Donald Trump has nominated a former member of the US Senate from Texas to become the next ambassador to NATO.
Kay Bailey Hutchison, 73, served in the Senate for 20 years beginning in 1993, when she won a special election to fill a vacant seat. Since stepping down in 2013, she has practised law for a firm in Houston that also has former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, a Trump supporter as a partner.
If confirmed as the US envoy to NATO, Hutchison will have to straddle the longtime US commitment to the military alliance and the thorny relationship that Trump has had with the 28-nation group.