President Trump nominates former Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer as US ambassador to UAE

TOPEKA — President Donald Trump nominated former Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer to serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Arab Emirates.

Colyer, 66, campaigned for governor this year but chose not to file as a candidate in June. His departure from the campaign created an easier path for Trump-endorsed Senate President Ty Masterson to win the Republican Party’s nomination in August. Before the primary election, Colyer also endorsed Masterson’s candidacy for governor.

“My service will continue,” Colyer said at that time, “but I shall not be a candidate for governor in 2026.”

The White House announced the nomination of Colyer on Monday. The president didn’t issue a statement regarding Colyer’s selection. The nomination requires consent of the U.S. Senate. The UAE post is currently vacant.

Republicans currently hold a majority in the U.S. Senate, but Democrats in the November election won a majority that will be installed Jan. 3.

U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, expressed support for Colyer’s nomination to serve as a diplomat in the Middle East.

“He has a proven record of public service, principled leadership and steadfast commitment to improving the lives of Kansans and the American people,” Moran said. “I am confident he will represent our country well on the world stage.”

Colyer, who served two years each in the Kansas House and Kansas Senate, gained greater prominence in Kansas politics when selected to be the lieutenant governor running mate of Republican Sam Brownback in 2010.

The duo was elected and Colyer was the state’s lieutenant governor until January 2018, when Brownback resigned to become Trump’s U.S. ambassador for international religious freedom.

Despite having represented Kansas for 14 years in the U.S. Senate, Brownback’s confirmation was hindered by the challenge of lining up votes to confirm his appointment as an ambassador. The Senate voted 49-49 on his nomination, and Vice President Mike Pence cast a tiebreaking vote.

Colyer was sworn into office as governor but narrowly lost the August 2018 GOP gubernatorial primary to Kris Kobach. Kobach lost the general election to Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly, who is nearing completion of her second term in office.

Colyer abandoned plans to run for governor in 2022 after he was diagnosed in 2021 with prostate cancer.

Colyer’s professional career has been as a surgeon in Johnson County, and he has been a medical volunteer in conflict zones with the International Medical Corps.

He was in Ukraine for one month in 2024 and assisted local doctors for six weeks in Iraq during 2003. He also was posted to Rwanda, Afghanistan, Libya, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Cameroon and more than a dozen other locations.