Islamabad, 10 November, 2026 (Ghufran): US President Donald Trump has nominated Natalie A. Baker, currently serving as chargé d’affaires at the US Mission in Pakistan, to become the next American ambassador to Islamabad, potentially ending a nearly two-year vacancy in the position. The White House announced her nomination in a list of appointments submitted to the US Senate on Monday. Baker, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister-Counselor, has been nominated as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Her appointment is subject to confirmation by the US Senate. If approved, she will become the first permanent US ambassador to Pakistan since Donald Blome left the post in early 2025. Baker has been heading the US Mission in Islamabad as chargé d’affaires since January 2025. She previously joined the US Embassy in Islamabad as Deputy Chief of Mission in August 2024 after serving in the same capacity at the US Embassy in Doha, Qatar. Her diplomatic career also includes assignments as Director of the Office of North African Affairs at the US Department of State, Deputy Chief of Mission and chargé d’affaires in Libya, Deputy Director of the Iran Regional Presence Office at the US Consulate in Dubai, and Economic Counsellor at the US Embassy in Kuwait. She has also previously served as a consular officer in Islamabad. Baker holds a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University, a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard University, and is a graduate of the National War College at the National Defense University in the United States. Donald Blome, the previous US ambassador to Pakistan, assumed office in May 2022 after Senate confirmation in March of that year. His appointment ended a nearly four-year period without a full-time American ambassador in Islamabad. Blome was the first permanent US envoy to Pakistan since David Hale completed his tenure in August 2018.