December 11, 2024

President-elect Donald Trump has tapped Jacob Helberg to be the State Department’s top economic policy and trade official, selecting a China hawk for an integral role in U.S. efforts to secure supply chains.

In a Truth Social post on Tuesday, Trump said Helberg, one of the leaders in the push to ban Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok, will be “a champion of our America First Foreign Policy” as undersecretary of State for economic growth, energy and the environment. He added that Helberg “has the knowledge, expertise, and pragmatism to defend America’s Economic interests abroad.”

The undersecretary of State for economic growth is often referred to as the senior U.S. economic diplomat and advises the secretary of State on international economic policy. They also oversee bureaus that manage policy around tech, energy resources, global food security and the environment.

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