Longtime Donald Trump ally and staunch border security advocate, Kari Lake, is the leading to contenter to be named U.S. ambassador to Mexico, according to reports.
Lake has remained close to the president-elect over the last few years, having won Trump’s endorsement in both her unsuccessful bids for statewide office in Arizona.
The former news anchor and vocal proponent of stringent border security lost an Arizona Senate bid last month to Democratic Sen.-elect Ruben Gallego.
She also lost a race for Arizona governor in 2022
Lake made immigration policy a core component of her Senate campaign. On the campaign trail, Lake echoed Trump’s views on tougher border security measures.
She has previously referred to the surge of migrants entering the U.S. as an “invasion.”
She advocated for completing the southern border wall, increasing the number of judges to handle asylum claims, accelerating deportations of undocumented immigrants who cross outside official entry points, and constructing more border detention facilities.
Prior to November’s Senate race, Lake told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham, “In January of ’25, when President Trump is elected, and I’m elected in the Senate, we’re going to use that CBP One app the other way. We’re going to find out who came in and we’re going to send them back to their homeland.”
“In order to save our homeland, they got to go back to theirs.”
As U.S. ambassador to Mexico, Lake would be responsible for engaging with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s government on a host of contentious issues, including migration, counternarcotics, and Trump’s pledge to enact new tariffs on imports.
Lake’s confirmation would still need approval from the Senate.