Trump Nominates Devin Kennington As US Ambassador To Somalia

GOOBJOOG NEWS|WASHINGTON: U.S. President Donald Trump has nominated Devin Kennington of California to serve as the next United States ambassador to Somalia, moving to fill a post that has remained without a Senate-confirmed ambassador since the departure of Richard H. Riley.

Kennington was named Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States to the Federal Republic of Somalia as part of a new batch of diplomatic and senior government nominations sent to the U.S. Senate. His nomination requires Senate confirmation before he can formally take up the post.

If confirmed, Kennington will take charge of the U.S. mission at a critical period for Somalia, with Washington maintaining significant interests in counter-terrorism, political stability and security cooperation in the Horn of Africa.

The appointment would restore ambassador-level leadership to the U.S. mission following the departure of Ambassador Richard H. Riley. Riley, a career diplomat who took up the Somalia post in May 2024, was among nearly 30 ambassadors and senior diplomats recalled by the Trump administration in late 2025 as part of a wider reshuffle of U.S. diplomatic representation overseas.

The embassy has subsequently operated under chargé d’affaires leadership. As of September 1, the American Foreign Service Association’s ambassador tracker still listed the Somalia ambassadorial position as vacant.

Kennington would inherit a relationship heavily shaped by security cooperation. The United States has long worked with Somalia on efforts to combat Al-Shabaab and Islamic State militants, while also supporting political stability, institution-building and humanitarian responses. Washington’s stated policy has included preventing Somalia from becoming a safe haven for international terrorism and supporting stability and effective governance.

The nomination also comes as Somalia navigates a sensitive political transition and continuing disagreements over its electoral and constitutional framework, making the U.S. ambassador an important diplomatic interlocutor between Washington, the Federal Government and other Somali political actors.

Washington restored a permanent diplomatic presence in Mogadishu in December 2018, nearly 28 years after the U.S. Embassy closed following the collapse of Somalia’s central government in 1991. The United States had formally recognised Somalia’s Federal Government in January 2013.

No date has yet been announced for a Senate confirmation hearing for Kennington. Until the confirmation process is completed, the U.S. mission will continue to operate without a Senate-confirmed ambassador.