President-elect Donald Trump said on Thursday that he will name Woody Johnson, the billionaire owner of the New York Jets, to be his ambassador to the United Kingdom, multiple outlets reported.
During a luncheon in Washington, D.C. honoring his supporters, Trump introduced Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) as “sitting next to the ambassador Woody Johnson, going to Saint James,” as quoted in a WNBC report.
All ambassadors to the U.K. are officially known as ambassadors to the Court of St. James’s.
Reuters also reported Trump’s remarks, and CNBC cited an unnamed transition official who confirmed Trump’s plans.
Johnson had joined Trump’s fundraising team in May 2016. But Trump also previously singled out Johnson, who first served as finance chairman on Jeb Bush’s campaign, for criticism.
Trump slammed Bush for taking “special interest” donor money and suggested that Johnson’s fundraising would influence Bush’s positions on prescription drug policies. Johnson’s family founded the powerhouse Johnson & Johnson medical and pharmaceutical company.
Notably, the NFL has scheduled four games in London this year for the first time. The league has also suggested that it could open a franchise in the U.K.’s capital as early as 2022.
