The Donald Trump White House nominated Preston Wells Griffith on Monday to be the United States ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The White House also nominated Griffith to be the U.S. State Department ambassador to the Vienna Office of the United Nations.
Griffith served in the first Donald Trump administration, holding several senior roles at the Department of Energy and National Security Council. He was also appointed as the undersecretary of energy during Trump’s second term in July 2025.
Griffith endured a short term in that role after being forced out in October 2025. Politico reported that Griffith was sidelined after butting heads with Energy Secretary Chris Wright.
Alex Fitzsimmons, another veteran from Trump’s first administration, has since taken over Griffith’s post as the acting undersecretary of energy.The president has since nominated Kyle Haustveit to permanently fill the undersecretary post.
If confirmed to the IAEA post, Griffith would take over the role previously held by Laura Holgate. Holgate ambassador to the IAEA and the Vienna Office of the United Nations from 2016 to 2017 and again from 2022 to 2025.
Holgate was initially nominated by Barack Obama in 2015 and Joe Biden in 2021.