Trump chooses son of Cubans to be new US ambassador to Brazil

Daniel Perez, appointed by Trump as US ambassador to Brazil
American Legislative Exchange Council
The White House announced this Monday (1st) the appointment of Daniel Perez for the position of United States ambassador to Brazil. Perez, 38, is president of the Florida House of Representatives and will need to be confirmed by the US Senate.
If approved, he will be the first US ambassador to Brazil since the departure of Elizabeth Bagley, appointed by Joe Biden. The post has been vacant since January 2026, when Trump returned to the White House.
Currently, the American diplomatic mission in Brasília is commanded by chargé d'affaires Gabriel Escobar. Last week, the US announced that he would be replaced by Natasha Franceschi starting in July.
Son of Cuban immigrants, Perez was born in New York and moved with his family to Florida as a child, in 1993. He is currently part of the Republican Party, the same as Trump.
The nominee for the US Embassy in Brazil has been in charge of the Florida Chamber since 2024. Last year, he was even named as a possible candidate for the position of attorney general of the state, but decided to remain as president of the House.
The nomination comes amid a political clash between Perez and Florida governor, Ron DeSantis.
In recent weeks, the president of the state House prevented the advancement of projects supported by the governor, including measures to relax vaccination requirements for public school students and to change rules related to artificial intelligence companies.
The conflict between the two also involves negotiations over the state budget. In May, for example, the Florida House stopped approving funding for programs championed by Casey DeSantis, the governor's wife.
"When you have people who were elected behind our backs, like the speaker of the House, and they take office and do the opposite of what voters expected us to do, I'm going to point that out," DeSantis said during an event in May, according to the Miami Herald.
"I'm going to let people know that's what he's doing."

Source: G1