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Report: Trump to Appoint Cindy McCain to Ambassador Position

Comes despite Sen. John McCain’s frequent criticism of the president

Cindy McCain, wife of  Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is reported to be joining the Trump administration. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)
Cindy McCain, wife of  Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is reported to be joining the Trump administration. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

President Donald Trump is reported to be ready to appoint Republican Sen. John McCain’s wife Cindy McCain to an “ambassador at large” post.

The position will focus on working against human trafficking, refugees and humanitarian aid, the Daily Beast reported.

Trump apparently “aggressively courted” McCain for the position, according to the report. However, it is not clear if the State Department would create a new office for her. 

Of course, the president and the Arizona Republican senator have a turbulent history. In 2008, Trump endorsed McCain’s presidential campaign and McCain was the biggest recipient of campaign cash from Trump when he was still a businessman. 

But Trump also frequently criticized McCain during Trump’s presidential campaign, famously saying “He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.”

In 2015, Trump also said McCain should be defeated in his Senate primary and called him a “dummy” because he graduated last at in his class at the U.S. Naval Academy. (McCain didn’t graduate last but was 790th out a class of 795.)

And McCain has been a frequent critic of Trump, during his presidential campaign and after he took office. He recently told the Guardian that American leadership was better under former President Barack Obama than under Trump.

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