Terrelonge: Gov’t welcomes US ambassador-designate

Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Alando Terrelonge, says the Government looks forward to working with the new US ambassador. 

“We look forward to continuing our strategic partnership and our very good relationship with the US, and we welcome the ambassador of choice of the United States,” said Terrelonge.

He was speaking this week during a radio interview on Irie Jam Radio in New York, during which he was asked to comment on the announcement of Ambassador-designate Kari Lake.

Terrelonge referenced the long history between Jamaica and the United States, as well as the strategic arrangements between the two countries, and alluded to the fact that he did not see this changing.

The White House announced on Monday that Lake had been appointed to the post by President Donald Trump.

She will have to undergo Senate confirmation before taking up her post as ambassador.

Lake is a two-time Arizona political candidate. She first ran for governor of Arizona and lost, and later ran for the US Senate. She has not conceded defeat in either election.

According to the Associated Press and other news outlets, Lake has been involved in a number of election-related lawsuits arising from her campaigns for these offices.

Prior to her appointment as ambassador to Jamaica, she was chosen by President Trump to lead an agency that oversees Voice of America and other media services, such as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. During her tenure, she terminated contracts and laid off most of the employees at Voice of America.

However, a federal judge ruled in March this year that she lacked the legal authority to dismantle the institution.

Her appointment comes almost two years after the post of US ambassador to Jamaica became vacant. The previous ambassador, N. Nick Perry, stepped down following the swearing-in of President Trump after his victory in the 2024 presidential election.

Perry was appointed by President Joe Biden.

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