A former Southern Baptist pastor has been nominated U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom.
President Donald Trump has nominated former North Carolina pastor Mark Walker, 55, to the post, which is part of the U.S. Department of State. This office is distinct from the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, which is an independent, bipartisan federal agency. However, both roles were created by the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act.
Mark Walker
If confirmed by the Senate, Walker will succeed Ambassador Rashad Hussain, who served from 2022 to 2024. Other previous ambassadors were Sam Brownback (2018 to 2021), David Saperstein (2014 to 2017), Suzan Johnson Cook (2011 to 2013), John V. Hanford III (2002 to 2009) and Robert A. Seiple (1999 to 2000)
The State Department’s Office of International Religious Freedom “promotes the right of every person in the world to believe or not believe, to change their beliefs, speak about their beliefs, and to manifest their beliefs through teaching, practice, worship and observance,” its website states. “We monitor reports of abuses and discrimination by governments and societal actors and develop and implement policies and programs to address these challenges.”
Walker is a former critic of Trump on moral grounds who later endorsed the president despite those earlier misgivings.
During the 2016 presidential election, Walker called some of Trump’s remarks “morally reprehensible” and condemned the candidate’s lewd remarks about women as “vile.”
Despite that, Walker backed Trump over his general election opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton. After Trump won the 2016 election, Walker expressed support for Trump on taxes and education but said he could not support Trump’s statements about creating a registry tracking Muslim Americans.
In 2025, however, Walker appears all in for the second Trump administration.
“Thank you @realDonaldTrump for the honor of being selected to serve as Ambassador at Large Nomination of International Religious Freedom,” he tweeted.
He praised Trump as “a defender of faith evidenced by his bold statement on religious liberty at the United Nations, ‘Today, with one clear voice, the United States of America calls upon the nations of the world to end religious persecution.’ I await the Senate confirmation process and look forward to working with VP Vance, Susie Wiles, Secretary Rubio, Director Ratcliffe and the incredible team @POTUS has assembled.”
“I’ll be relentless in fighting for those targeted who dare to live out their faith.”
He also said: “As a former minister, along with serving in Congressional leadership, I’m open-eyed to the bad actors and regions committing these atrocities against people of faith.” And he pledged: “I’ll be relentless in fighting for those targeted who dare to live out their faith.”
Walker served as U.S. representative for North Carolina’s 6th congressional district from 2015 to 2021. He was elected to head the Republican Study Committee in 2017 and named vice chair of the House Republican Conference in 2019.
Walker won election to the U.S. House in 2014, 2016 and 2018, did not run in 2020 due to redistricting and then lost his bid for the U.S. Senate in 2022, where he came in a distant third in the Republican primary. He also was a candidate in the 2024 North Carolina governor’s race before withdrawing to join Trump’s campaign staff.
Walker was born in Dothan, Ala, and attended Trinity Baptist College in Jacksonville, Fla., and Piedmont Baptist College in Winston-Salem, N.C., where he earned a bachelor of arts degree in biblical studies.
He was ordained as a Southern Baptist minister and began service at Calvary Baptist Church in Winston-Salem. He later served Lawndale Baptist Church in Greensboro, N.C.
In nominating Walker, Trump boasted that he loves North Carolina because he “won six times” there.
Of Walker, he said: “Mark will work incredibly hard to expose Human Rights Violations, champion Faith, and help us secure Life Saving Results.”
Trump nominated Walker to the post one day after another former Southern Baptist pastor, Mike Huckabee, was confirmed by the Senate as U.S. ambassador to Israel.