(WHTM) – Pennsylvania State Senator Doug Mastriano has been nominated by President Donald Trump to serve as the U.S. ambassador to the Slovak Republic, the White House announced on Monday.
Mastriano now faces a confirmation hearing in the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA) sits on.
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Mastriano released the following statement on Facebook in response to the announcement:
I am deeply honored and humbled by President Trump’s nomination to serve as United States Ambassador to the Slovak Republic. Upon Senate confirmation, I look forward to representing our nation abroad, strengthening the friendship between our two countries, and advancing the interests of the American people.
In the meantime, I remain fully committed to serving the people of Pennsylvania’s 33rd Senatorial District and will continue fulfilling my responsibilities while the Senate considers my nomination.
A former U.S. Army officer, Mastriano has represented Adams and Franklin counties since 2019. He previously served in West Germany, Iraq, and Afghanistan before going on to teach at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle.
Mastriano has a Doctor of History and several master’s degrees and has written multiple books. In the State Senate, Mastriano has introduced legislation supporting veterans and targeting fentanyl dealers, as well as one this year to ban employers from requiring employees to be microchipped.
In 2022, Mastriano won a heavily competitive primary for governor after being endorsed by President Donald Trump. Mastriano went on to lose the general election to Josh Shapiro by nearly 800,000 votes, with Shapiro receiving more than 56% of the vote.
Mastriano publicly weighed another run for governor in 2026, saying in February believes he could win another primary. He opted not to run against State Treasurer Stacy Garrity, but lamented the Republican party’s endorsement of Garrity as a “coronation.”
Mastriano has long drawn criticism for efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and his presence in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2022, though Mastriano said he did not participate in the Capitol riot.
In January, Gautam A. Rana announced he would depart from his post at the U.S. Embassy in Slovakia.
A member of the European Union bordering five countries, including Ukraine and Poland, Slovakia has a population of more than 5 million people. The country covers approximately 49,000 square kilometers, making it slightly smaller than West Virginia.
The U.S. Embassy is located in Staré Mesto, Bratislava, along the Danube River bordering Austria.
Mastriano would not be the first U.S. ambassador to Slovakia with ties to the Midstate. The first ambassador to Slovakia, Theodore Russell, also worked at the U.S. Army War College.
Cumberland County native Carla Sands, who ran for the U.S. Senate in 2022, served as the U.S. Ambassador to Denmark during Trump’s first term.
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