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Trump ally Bill White, who led the failed attempt to carve a new Buckhead city out of Atlanta, has been confirmed as the next U.S. ambassador to Belgium.
Mr. White’s nomination was one of 107 confirmed in a 51-47 vote on Oct. 7 after Republicans rammed through a Senate rules change in September to allow group votes on executive branch nominees.
A businessman and fundraiser for veterans’ causes, Mr. White was tapped for the plum posting soon after President Donald Trump was re-elected last November.
In confirmation hearings, Mr. White was asked to answer for social media posts calling for the prosecution of Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger for refusing to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia, which Mr. Trump famously lost by some 11,000 votes. After the Buckhead city campaign failed to move through the Georgia legislature, Mr. White moved to Florida.
In Brussels, where both the European Union and NATO are headquartered, Mr. White said he would focus on advancing Mr. Trump’s agenda, including his strident trade policies and his ongoing push for allies to spend more on defense.
The Brussels Times said in a report this week that Mr. White would present his credentials to King Philippe Nov. 12 after arriving in Brussels with his husband, Bryan Eure.
The newspaper quoted Mr. White as expressing admiration for the “ lovely and wonderful people” of Belgium as well as the royal couple, who Mr. White said dined with Mr. Trump at the recent reopening of Notre Dame cathedral in Paris.
Georgia has a strong relationship with Belgium, with more than 60 companies hailing from the country establishing operations in the state. Brussels was the site of the state’s first office in Europe in the 1970s under then-Gov. Jimmy Carter, who would appoint another Georgian, newspaper heiress Anne Cox Chambers, as ambassador to Belgium when he became U.S. president. One of the earliest transatlantic flights to Atlanta, a Sabena route from Brussels, began operating during her tenure. Delta Air Lines restarted its Brussels flight from Atlanta in June.
Belgium also picked Georgia for a 2023 trade mission led by Princess Astrid to the United States, which some business leaders suggested was the largest foreign delegation to the state since the 1996 Olympics.
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