Shortly after the completion of the Dominican Week, with intense lobbying efforts on behalf of business people and government officials in Washington DC and New York, on 7 October 2025, the United States National Congress voted to confirm the Trump administration choice for US ambassador in the Dominican Republic, Leah Francis Campos. The last US ambassador in the Dominican Republic was businesswoman Robin Bernstein, appointed by the first Trump administration and who completed her four-year term in January 2021 with the start of the Biden administration.
Leah Francis Campos was one of the first picks for ambassador announced by the US Presidency. She previously served as a CIA case officer and then a senior adviser for the Western Hemisphere for the House Foreign Affairs Committee. She is also the sister of Fox News host Rachel Campos-Duffy. Campos’ brother-in-law, former congressman Sean Duffy (Republican-Wisconsin), is the current US Secretary of Transportation.
Leah Campos in her exposition to the confirmation hearing in the US Congress in May 2025 was blunt and spoke of her priorities to contribute to the crack down on drug trafficking and growing Chinese immersion in the Dominican Republic.
During the US Senate confirmation hearing, the then US ambassador nominee to the Dominican Republic, spoke of how counteracting the growing influence of China in the Dominican Republic would be a priority of her administration. “…. I will work tirelessly to counter the Chinese Communist Party’s influence in the Dominican Republic and throughout the hemisphere,” she said during the confirmation hearing.
For years, the Dominican government had looked the other way as Chinese businesses have taken great strides to install mega stores to sell Chinese imports. The advances came with the protest of local business people who argued the Chinese were being allowed major violations of construction, labor, tax and customs laws.
“If confirmed, it will be a top priority to align with the interests of the US and interests in keeping the region stable, secure democratic, combatting criminality in the region, a key issue in the region and at the summit,” Campos had also said during the confirmation hearing.
Campos in her nomination hearing also addressed the challenge of Haiti and her priority to work for what she called creating “a positive chapter for Haiti.” She said she would work closely with the US mission in Port-au-Prince “to find solutions to stabilize the situation in Haiti is troubling at best.“
The appointment comes just in time for the US to have an ambassador in situ as the Dominican Republic completes preparations to host the 10th Summit of the Americas, a US government-initiated event. The summit is scheduled to be held 1-5 December 2025 in Punta Cana.
A recent report by the Finnish Institute of International Affairs explains what may be happening, with the Abinader administration aligning itself closer to US government interests. The Finns prepared the report that explains what it describes in the report title “The geoeconomics turn in the Americas.” The report stresses the Dominican Republic is at the center of Washington’s return to the region.
The Geoeconomics Turn in the Americas report states:
“The tide is turning rapidly as the United States shifts its response to China’s industrial rise, with Washington returning to the Western Hemisphere in search of not only new trade relationships but also industrial, foreign, and security policies. This shift reflects a geoeconomic turn in the Americas, where economic actors – from drug cartels to critical supply-chain partners – are increasingly treated as security concerns, blurring the line between commerce and security.
“The Dominican Republic is positioning itself as a partner in both the joint development of the Americas and US security. Its growing alignment with the United States reflects global shifts elsewhere, such as in Finland’s relationship with Washington.
“The Dominican Republic’s sustained economic growth and its location between the US territory of Puerto Rico and the region’s security challenges place it at the centre of Washington’s attempt to re-engineer hemispheric value chains and security partnerships.”
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Finnish Institute of International Affairs
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El Dia
El Dia
US Senate
8 October 2025