Donald Trump has selected former Georgia Sen. David Perdue to serve as ambassador to China.
Perdue has significant business experience in Asia, including China, something he ran on during his Senate election in 2014. As the former CEO of Dollar General and a top executive at Sara Lee and Reebok, Perdue was responsible for significant corporate restructuring and global expansion, and has lived in both Singapore and Hong Kong.
In a post on Truth Social late Thursday, Trump highlighted Perdue’s extensive background working in Asia and noted his service on the Armed Services Committee and the Foreign Relations Committee while in the Senate.
“He will be instrumental in implementing my strategy to maintain Peace in the region, and a productive working relationship with China’s leaders,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social, in which he also called Perdue a “loyal supporter” and “friend.”
After being elected in 2014, Perdue served one term in the Senate, where he earned a reputation for his fiscal conservatism and backing pro-business policies. He lost his reelection bid in a 2021 runoff against Democrat Jon Osoff.
Trump recruited Perdue to run for Georgia governor in 2022 against incumbent Republican Brian Kemp, who Trump wanted to punish for his decision to certify the 2020 election results. Perdue lost his primary bid in a landslide, a result that was widely regarded as demonstrating the limits of Trump’s political power.
In his business career, Perdue was a strong proponent of moving jobs from the U.S. to Asia to save on manufacturing costs, a practice seemingly at odds with Trump’s America First policy and something that dogged him on the campaign trail.
Trump recently threatened to impose an additional 10 percent tariff on Chinese goods if the country doesn’t do more to stop fentanyl trafficking.
“Representatives of China told me that they would institute their maximum penalty, that of death, for any drug dealers caught doing this but, unfortunately, they never followed through,” Trump wrote on Truth Social late last month.
