US President-elect Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he had appointed real estate investor Steven Witkoff to be Special Envoy to the Middle East in his new administration.
“Steve is a highly respected leader in business and philanthropy, who has made every project and community he has been involved with stronger and more prosperous. Steve will be an unrelenting Voice for PEACE, and make us all proud,” Trump said in a statement.
Witkoff was born to a Jewish family in the Bronx and raised in Baldwin Harbor, New York. He was playing golf with Trump at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida in September, when the second suspected assassination on Trump was attempted.
Witkoff is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Witkoff Group, which he founded in 1997. Since founding the firm, Witkoff has leveraged his extensive real estate expertise to successfully lead the financing, repositioning, and construction of over 70 properties in major business districts in the US as well as abroad and with offices in New York, Los Angeles, and Miami.
Previously, Witkoff co-founded Stellar Management Company, where he acquired and repositioned a portfolio of residential buildings in New York City. Earlier in his career, he practiced real estate law at Dreyer & Traub and Rosenman & Colin, where he represented a number of large developers and investors.
Trump had previously named Witkoff as co-chair of his inaugural committee together with former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler.
The announcement of Witkoff’s appointment follows Trump’s announcement that he had nominated Mike Huckabee as the new US Ambassador to Israel.
On Monday, it was reported that Trump has asked Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) to be his White House national security adviser.
Later reports said that Trump was expected to tap Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) as the Secretary of State in his administration.