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President Donald Trump announced in June he would name New York Jets owner Woody Johnson as the ambassador to the United Kingdom, according to CNBC. On Thursday, Johnson was approved by the United States Senate for the job.
Johnson, 70, was the national finance chairman for Jeb Bush’s presidential campaign, but endorsed Trump last May. He is currently the chairman and chief executive of the Johnson Company, Inc.
Prior to his endorsement of Trump, he was mocked by the candidate on Twitter for his endorsement of Bush:
Woody Johnson, owner of the NYJets, is @JebBush’s finance chairman. If Woody would’ve been w/me, he would’ve been in the playoffs, at least!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2016
With the new responsibilities, Johnson will name someone else to take over the team’s operations, according to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network. It also likely means that Johnson steps down from the three NFL committees that he’s a member of: the media committee, business ventures, and the finance committee.
That could mean big changes for the Jets organization, which has long featured Johnson heavily involved in decision making.
Trump confirmed the appointment of Johnson during a luncheon Thursday morning, introducing a guest as “sitting next to the ambassador Woody Johnson, going to Saint James,” according to the Associated Press.
It’s not an unprecedented move for the United States, which previously had Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney serve as the country’s ambassador to Ireland from 2009 to 2012.