Pete Hoekstra Is Poised To Become Us Ambassador To Canada At A Tense Moment

Pete Hoekstra proved an able firefighter for Donald Trump last summer, extinguishing a Republican Party civil war in his home state of Michigan and ultimately helping ensure the crucial state voted red on Nov. 5.

For his efforts, Hoekstra has reaped an unlikely reward: He is set to become the U.S. president’s ambassador to Canada.

The longtime Michigan lawmaker and former diplomat will face his Senate confirmation hearing Thursday, but if and when he arrives at the stately Lornado mansion overlooking the Ottawa River, it won’t be as a friendly guest in the Canadian capital: He’ll be the face for a government that is viewed as the aggressor in an unprovoked trade war designed to cripple the Canadian economy.

“It’s not going to be easy explaining why all the threats and insults have occurred, which are not his doing, but obviously the attitude of Mr. Trump,” former Clinton-era Canadian envoy Jim Blanchard told POLITICO. “He will come in one of the most challenging times in our relations in modern history.”

While typically the U.S. ambassador to Canada is considered a plum gig — mostly navigating issues like investment deals and trusted travelers — the start of Trump's second term has thrust the position onto trickier terrain. Even before his official return to the White House, the U.S. president was threatening to slap 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico. He’s also fixated on the idea of Canada becoming the 51st state.

“America is not Canada. And Canada never, ever, will be part of America in any way, shape or form,” Prime Minister-designate Mark Carney said this week. “We didn’t ask for this fight, but Canadians are always ready when someone else drops the gloves.”

Hoekstra declined an interview request, citing his preference to speak publicly after he is confirmed as ambassador.

Supporters of Hoekstra's say he'll be able to handle the job — and that indeed he wanted to jump back into the fray. Trump has been impressed by Hoekstra's past handling of big messes and thorny situations, and most recently Trump called Hoekstra out of retirement last year to deal with the Republican meltdown that was unfolding in Hoekstra's home state of Michigan.

Hoekstra, 71, became the chair of the Michigan Republican Party as it faced massive debt, leadership infighting and gutter-level morale that was all but serving the Wolverine State up to the Democrats in 2024. Hoekstra intervened and laid down the law for GOP faithful.

“Those who don't want to be part of the party but believe in our values … you are welcome to help elect Republicans on Election Day,” Hoekstra said in a closed-door speech obtained by the Bridge Michigan.

Michigan joined the Trump wave of states, including Pennsylvania and Ohio, that collapsed the so-called Blue Wall of the Democratic swing states along the border with Canada.

“Trump asked Hoekstra to come out of retirement as an elder statesman to kind of settle the party down, sort everything out. And Hoekstra did and then delivered Michigan for Trump in the election,” Chris Sands, head of the Wilson Center’s Canada Institute, told POLITICO. “Definitely there was an IOU after that, and what Hoekstra asked for — he could have asked to just be left alone — but he actually asked for Canada."

Navigating the future of North America’s highly integrated auto industry will be near or at the top of Hoekstra’s agenda, given that Trump has declared he wants all the continent’s automobile manufacturing reshored to the United States.

That would gut the economy of Canada’s most populous province, Ontario, which shares the largest land border crossing in the world with the United States: the Ambassador Bridge, linking Detroit with Windsor, Ontario.

Edward Alden, a senior fellow at the U.S.-based Council on Foreign Relations, and co-author of a recent book on the implications of the Covid-19 border closures, said it has probably never been more important to have an American ambassador to Canada who hails from a border state because so many senior Trump administration figures “know nothing about Canada.”

“Having an ambassador who's from a northern state, who's from an auto industry state — because that's obviously in the trade world, particularly such an important part of the Canadian economy and of the American economy — I think that's going to be very valuable for Canada,” Alden said in an interview.

Cornelis Piet Hoekstra was born in Groningen, Netherlands, on Oct. 30, 1953. Three years later, his family emigrated to the United States and settled in the Dutch enclave of Holland, Michigan, where he met his future wife and graduated with her from Holland Christian High School. They raised two daughters and a son.

Like Joe Biden, who famously commuted between his home and children in Delaware to the U.S. Capitol for decades, the Grand Rapids Press once described how Hoekstra regularly made the commute from Holland to Washington to keep his family rooted while serving in the House of Representatives from 1993 to 2011. That made him more of a part of his kids’ lives, enabling him to do things like lug laundry baskets full of tennis balls, to help his oldest daughter, Erin, train for her favorite sport, the Press reported.

Hoekstra was an avid cyclist and regularly campaigned in Michigan by bike, logging thousands of miles. That included his 1992 campaign to successfully win his seat in Congress as an adherent of Newt Gingrich’s “Contract with America.” A believer in low taxes and less government, Hoekstra would go on to become a founding member of the congressional Tea Party Caucus.

In 2016, he joined the Trump team when the possibility of him becoming president seemed remote, appearing on cable TV to support the candidate and introduce him at rallies. He was an adviser on Trump’s transition team after his surprise victory over Hillary Clinton.

Trump appointed him ambassador to the Netherlands starting in January 2018. During his three years in the European capital, Hoekstra demonstrated his acumen to navigate controversy while being the American face of an unpopular president, said Sands.

Speaking fluent Dutch also helped, added Sands. “(It) didn't mean they always loved what Trump was saying. But I think they understood a little bit better because they could talk to him [Hoekstra].’”

Hoekstra’s tenure in the Netherlands was not without controversy. He was criticized by political parties there for interfering in the nation's internal politics after hosting an event for the far-right Forum for Democracy party and sparring with Dutch journalists who criticized him for promoting anti-Islam conspiracy theories. 

“I’m shocked I said it,” Hoekstra said later. “It was a misstatement. It was simply wrong.”

News that he was heading to Ottawa prompted letters in The Toronto Star. “Hoekstra will be in a country opposed to many of his values, as demonstrated by his past voting record,” one reader wrote. “I hope he is smarter now, but it sounds like he’ll clash with what I most fervently hope are solid Canadian traditions and policies.”

Hoekstra’s mix of domestic and international political experience — from his Tea Party, Republican roots, serving Michigan in the House of Representatives, to his posting to The Netherlands — could serve him well when he arrives in Ottawa.

“He's been active in politics in Michigan and the Michigan-Canadian connection is really important, not just autos but energy, agriculture. He has a feel for all of that," said Blanchard, a former Michigan Democratic governor who is personally acquainted with Hoekstra.

Sands said Hoekstra brings two key qualities to the post. The first is the ability to “plausibly speak with a sense of what a White House really wants.” The second may end up being the most critical: He can use his direct channel to Trump to “raise issues when they really reach a boiling point.”