President Donald Trump’s nominee for United States Ambassador to Jamaica has pledged to strengthen security cooperation with Kingston, intensify efforts to combat lottery scamming and drug trafficking, and push back against China’s growing influence in the Caribbean if confirmed to the diplomatic post.

Appearing before the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday, Kari Lake outlined what she described as four key priorities for her tenure, placing security cooperation and strategic competition with China at the forefront of her agenda.

Lake, a former television journalist and current nominee to head the US Embassy in Kingston, said she would work closely with the Jamaican Government to dismantle transnational criminal organisations, disrupt narcotics trafficking networks, and combat lottery-scamming operations that continue to target American citizens.