On April 21st, former South Carolina, USA, lieutenant governor Andre Bauer was nominated by President Donald Trump’s administration to serve as the next United States Ambassador to Belize. The nomination was included in a list of presidential appointments released by the White House. Bauer had previously been nominated for the same post in July 2020 during Trump’s first term in office.
Bauer, 57, served as South Carolina’s lieutenant governor from 2003 to 2011 under then-Governor Mark Sanford. He also served in both the South Carolina House of Representatives and the Senate. From 2010 to 2015, Bauer served as a major in the South Carolina State Guard and later worked as a political analyst and commentator for CNN from 2016 to 2019.
His educational background includes a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of South Carolina’s College of Applied Professional Sciences, obtained in 1991. Bauer has also received several honors, including the South Carolina Republican Party’s Terry Haskins Award for Legislative Leadership.
He currently lives in Greenville, South Carolina, where he is the owner of Bunk Aviation, a real estate holding company. Bauer briefly entered the 2025 United States Senate race as a Republican but suspended his campaign after less than a month, saying he did not want to participate in a political environment that rewards deception over honesty.
Meanwhile, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham has expressed support for Bauer’s nomination. “Congratulations to Andre Bauer for being nominated to be the Ambassador to Belize, an important ally to the United States,” Graham wrote on his X account. “Andre will do a great job. I look forward to helping him with his nomination and getting him through the Senate as soon as possible.”
All U.S. ambassadorial nominations submitted by the White House must be confirmed by Congress. The most recent U.S. ambassador to Belize was Michelle Kwan, who concluded her tenure at the end of former President Joe Biden’s administration.