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VICE News

Meet the Billionaire Republican Donor Who Will Be the Next Ambassador to Canada

Kelly Knight Craft is the new American ambassador to Canada, who is married to one of America’s wealthiest coal magnates, is heading to Ottawa.
Justin Ling
Montreal, CA

President Donald Trump has tapped a new ambassador to Canada, opting for a billionaire Republican consultant who used her family's massive coal fortune to get Trump elected.

Kelly Knight Craft will be Trump's pick to head up the American diplomatic mission in Ottawa, if reports from Bloomberg are correct, as he plows ahead with plans to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement and slap a huge new tax on foreign imports into America.

Craft isn't exactly a household name—unlike erstwhile Governor Sarah Palin, whose name was originally touted for the job—but she is a heavy hitter in the GOP.

Craft and her husband, Joseph, have swung more than $2 million to Republican causes, and the occasional Democratic campaign, in 2015 and 2016.

Only a fraction of that money ended up in Trump's campaign. The pair initially supported Marco Rubio, but also contributed to the campaigns of Ted Cruz and Chris Christie.

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