News

Actions

Huntsman’s week: from Moscow to Washington to Salt Lake City

Posted at 8:05 PM, Oct 06, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-06 22:05:49-04

SALT LAKE CITY -- It was the beginning of March when President Donald Trump announced Jon Huntsman Jr. as his choice for U.S. Ambassador to Russia.

After seven months of waiting, Huntsman's schedule suddenly accelerated to warp speed.

On Thursday, September 26, the Senate approved his nomination.

Since then he has:

  1. Traveled to Moscow to meet his staff, see the Ambassador's residence, and present his credentials to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
  2. Traveled back to Washington D.C. for meetings at the State Department and the White House.
  3. Flown to Utah for a ceremonial swearing in at the State Capitol with Governor Gary Herbert, his successor as Chief Executive of the Beehive State.

In between, Huntsman sat down for an interview with Fox News, conducted by his daughter Abby Huntsman.

Huntsman told his daughter about the challenges he foresees.

"Today the relationship is at an all time low. I have to be frank about that," Huntsman said.

Huntsman told his daughter he is motivated to serve his country, and he admires President Trump and his foreign policy team.

"What I love about the President is he's a problem solver," he said. "The Secretary of State is a problem solver. General Mattis, our Secretary of Defense, is a problem solver."

Along with the challenge of navigating the fraught relationship between America and Russia, Huntsman mentioned one other challenge. Huntsman has mastered Mandarin, but he's a rookie at Russian.

"My colleagues in the embassy mentioned the other day that my Russian is spoken with a Chinese accent," he said.