Pete Hoekstra | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2025 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 33rdUnited States Ambassador to Canada | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office April 29, 2025 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| President | Donald Trump | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | David L. Cohen | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chair of theMichigan Republican Party | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office January 20, 2024 – February 22, 2025 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Kristina Karamo | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Jim Runestad | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| United States Ambassador to the Netherlands | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office January 10, 2018 – January 17, 2021 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| President | Donald Trump | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Shawn Crowley (Chargé d’Affaires) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Marja Verloop (Chargé d’Affaires) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMichigan's2nd district | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office January 3, 1993 – January 3, 2011 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Guy Vander Jagt (redistricted) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Bill Huizenga | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Cornelis Piet Hoekstra (1953-10-30)October 30, 1953 (age 72) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Republican | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | Diane Johnson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Education | Hope College (BA) University of Michigan (MBA) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cornelis PietHoekstra (/ˈhʊkstrə/; born October 30, 1953)[1][2] is an American politician and diplomat serving since 2025 as the 33rdUnited States ambassador to Canada. A member of theRepublican Party, he previously served as theUnited States ambassador to the Netherlands from 2018 to 2021, and was theU.S. representative forMichigan's 2nd congressional district from 1993 to 2011.
Born in theNetherlands, Hoekstra emigrated to the United States as a 12 year old.[3] In 1992, Hoekstra ran for the U.S. House, defeating thirteen-term incumbentGuy Vander Jagt in the Republican primary andDemocratic opponent John H. Miltner in the general election. Hoekstra was the chairman of theHouse Intelligence Committee from 2004 to 2007. He was a candidate for governor inMichigan's 2010 gubernatorial election, but came in second toRick Snyder in the Republican primary. Hoekstra was also the Republican nominee for theUnited States Senate in 2012, losing to Democratic incumbentDebbie Stabenow in thegeneral election.
On July 24, 2017, Hoekstra was nominated to beUnited States ambassador to the Netherlands by PresidentDonald Trump. This nomination was confirmed by theU.S. Senate on November 9, 2017, and Hoekstra was sworn in as U.S. Ambassador on December 11, 2017. He took office on January 10, 2018. During his tenure, he gained notability for making anti-Muslim comments. He left office on January 17, 2021. On January 20, 2024, Hoekstra was elected chair of theMichigan Republican Party. He is listed as a "contributor" toProject 2025.
On November 20, 2024, President-elect Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Hoekstra to serve as theUnited States ambassador to Canada. On April 9, 2025, Hoekstra was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as Ambassador to Canada.
Hoekstra was born Cornelis Piet Hoekstra inGroningen, Netherlands. He moved to the U.S. with his parents at the age of three, and Anglicized his name to Peter Hoekstra.[4] He graduated fromHolland Christian High School (Holland, Michigan) in 1971.[5] He received aBachelor of Arts inpolitical science fromHope College in 1975 and anMBA from theUniversity of Michigan'sRoss School of Business in 1977. He then joined office furniture makerHerman Miller and remained there for 15 years, eventually becoming vice president of marketing.
In 1992, Hoekstra made his first bid for public office inMichigan's 2nd congressional district. The district, previously the 9th, had been represented for 26 years byGuy Vander Jagt, longtime chairman of theNational Republican Congressional Committee.[6] Hoekstra rode hisbicycle across the district, which stretched down theLake Michigan shoreline fromCadillac to theGrand Rapids suburbs. He argued that Vander Jagt had served in Congress for too long; Vander Jagt had won his first election in 1966, when Hoekstra was 13 years old. He scored a monumental upset, winning by almost six percent. Hoekstra dominated the district's more populated southern portion; Vander Jagt's margins in the northern portion, his longtime base, weren't enough to close the gap.[7] This primary win wastantamount to election in a district reckoned as Michigan's most Republican district; the GOP has held the district for all but four years since it was created in 1873. Hoekstra later defeatedDemocrat John H. Miltner andLibertarian Dick Jacobs in the general election, with 63% of the vote.[8] Hoekstra continued to ride his bicycle across the district every summer, and biked across the state for his gubernatorial campaign.[9]
When he was first elected, Hoekstra initially pledged to serve no more than six terms (12 years) in the House. However, in 2004, he announced he would break that pledge and seek a seventh term.[10] In 2006, Hoekstra's Leadership PAC (the Mileage Fund) raised nearly $160,000 in Political Action Contributions from contributors including theTeamsters, Michigan Credit Union League, and Little Planet Books.[11]
Hoekstra faced no significant opposition in the Republican primary or in the general election (as in his previous five reelection campaigns) and went on to secure his seventh term. Shortly after the primary, he was named chairman of the Intelligence Committee, succeedingPorter Goss, who becameDirector of the Central Intelligence Agency.
Hoekstra was unopposed in the Republican primary. In November he was opposed by theDemocratic candidate Kimon Kotos,[12] who was also his 2004 opponent. Hoekstra defeated Kotos 183,518 votes to 87,361 votes.[13]
Hoekstra ran for re-election in 2008 against Fred Johnson, associate professor of History atHope College. He beat Johnson by 215,471 to 119,959 votes.
Hoekstra had a conservative voting record, consistent with the conservative nature[according to whom?] of the 2nd congressional district. He opposed abortion rights, opposed expanding health care benefits for children, opposed gay adoption rights and gay marriage, and voted against paid parental leave for federal employees. However, he also opposed amending theConstitution to prohibitflag desecration.[14]
Hoekstra consistently opposedgun control during his tenure, earning an A rating from theNRA Political Victory Fund.[15][14] In 2005 he voted to prohibit product lawsuits against gun manufacturers.[14] In 1994 he voted against theFederal Assault Weapons Ban.[16]
Hoekstra was a proponent of the claim that the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) at the time of the Second Gulf War, and held onto this belief even after no WMDs were found in the wake of the Iraq invasion.[17] In 2006, Hoekstra made headlines by announcing at a press conference in the Capitol thatweapons of mass destruction had been located inIraq in the form of 500chemical weapons.[18] However, the weapons in question were defunct munitions, manufactured prior to the 1991 Gulf War and which had been scattered throughout Iraq.[18] The media had already reported on these munitions when Hoekstra made his announcement that the weapons had been discovered.[18] Hoekstra's insistence that the Hussein regime possessed weapons of mass destruction were disputed by bothPentagon officials, theDuelfer Report, and the intelligence community.[19][20][21]
On November 3, 2006,The New York Times reported that a website created at the request of Hoekstra andSenatorPat Roberts was found to contain detailed information that could potentially be helpful to those seeking to producenuclear weapons. The website was shut down on November 2 following questioning byThe New York Times.[22]
As of September 17, 2007, some news outlets reported that the congressional committee Hoekstra had overseen had created "erroneous" and "misleading" reports about Iran's nuclear capabilities. "Among the committee's assertions is that Iran is producing weapons-grade uranium at its facility in the town of Natanz. The IAEA called that "incorrect", noting that weapons-grade uranium is enriched to a level of 90 percent or more. Iran has enriched uranium to 3.5 percent under IAEA monitoring."[23][24]
During the2003 invasion of Iraq,some 48,000 boxes of documents, audiotapes and videotapes were discovered by the U.S. military. In March 2006, the U.S. government, at the urging of members of Congress, made them available online at itsForeign Military Studies Office website, requesting Arabic translators around the world to help in the translation. On April 18, 2006, about a month after the first documents were made public, Hoekstra, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, issued a news release acknowledging "minimal risks," but saying the site "will enable us to better understand information such asSaddam's links to terrorism, weapons of mass destruction and violence against the Iraqi people." He added: "It will allow us to leverage the Internet to enable a mass examination as opposed to limiting it to a few exclusive elites."[25]
In early November 2006, the entire set of documents was removed. Media reports stated that the website was taken offline because of security concerns regarding the posting of sophisticated diagrams and other information regarding nuclear weapon design prior to the1991 Persian Gulf war.
On December 27, 2009, Hoekstra commented on reports thatUmar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who had allegedly tried to set off asuicide bomb onNorthwest Airlines Flight 253 on December 25, 2009, had subsequently confessed to being trained and equipped in Yemen.[26][27]Hoekstra called for a halt to the repatriation ofYemeni captives in Guantanamo.
Hoekstra was a founding member of the congressional HouseTea Party Caucus in 2010.[28][29]
In December 2008, Hoekstra said he would not seek re-election to his U.S. House seat in 2010, and instead campaign to be Michigan's governor. Hoekstra joinedMike Bouchard, the Oakland County sheriff and former state senator, formerGateway, Inc. presidentRick Snyder, state senatorTom George and Michigan attorney generalMike Cox as 2010 Republican gubernatorial candidates. In the primary, held on August 3, 2010, Hoekstra finished second to Snyder.[30][31][32][33][34]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Rick Snyder | 381,327 | 36.4 | |
| Republican | Pete Hoekstra | 280,976 | 26.8 | |
| Republican | Mike Cox | 240,409 | 23.0 | |
| Republican | Mike Bouchard | 127,350 | 12.2 | |
| Republican | Tom George | 16,986 | 1.6 | |
| Total votes | 1,044,925 | 100 | ||
Hoekstra was suggested as a possible challenger for Democratic incumbentDebbie Stabenow in the2012 Senate election,[36] but he initially declined to run.[37] Hoekstra later changed his mind and decided to challenge Stabenow in the election.[38] On August 29, 2011, Hoekstra was endorsed by Republican Michigan Governor Rick Snyder,[39] and on September 23, 2011, Hoekstra was endorsed by2012 Presidential candidateMichele Bachmann.[40]
Hoekstra faced Stabenow and four third-party candidates in the general election. On November 6, 2012, Hoekstra was defeated by Stabenow, receiving 38% of the vote.[41]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Debbie Stabenow (incumbent) | 2,735,826 | 58.8% | +1.9 | |
| Republican | Pete Hoekstra | 1,767,386 | 38.0% | −3.3 | |
| Libertarian | Scotty Boman | 84,480 | 1.8% | +1.1 | |
| Green | Harley Mikkelson | 27,890 | 0.6% | − | |
| Constitution | Richard Matkin | 26,038 | 0.6% | +0.1 | |
| Natural Law | John Litle | 11,229 | 0.2% | +0.1 | |
| Others | Write-in | 69 | 0.0% | − | |
| Majority | 409,367 | 8.8% | |||
| Turnout | 4,652,918 | ||||
| Democratichold | Swing | 2% | |||
Hoekstra targeted Democratic incumbent Debbie Stabenow with a television ad which ran statewide during the2012 Super Bowl.[42] The 30-second ad, created by Republican advertising consultantFred Davis III, opened with the sound of a gong and the image of a Chinese woman (played by 2012 Miss Napa Valley Lisa Chan)[43] riding a bike alongside a ricepaddy. The ad sarcastically accused Stabenow of contributing to the U.S.' spending problem, with the woman thanking "Michigan Senator Debbie Spenditnow", inbroken English, implying Stabenow has earned China's gratitude for making the U.S. economy "very weak" while China's "get very good".[44]
The commercial included a link to a Hoekstra campaign website with statistics about federal spending, decorated with images of Chinese flags and currency and using a stereotypicalChinatown font.[45] In theHTML code on Hoekstra's site, the woman in the ad is identified as "yellowgirl".[46] A statement released by the Hoekstra campaign said the HTML code was mistakenly shortened from "yellowshirtgirl".[47]
Chinese-American groups called the ad "very disturbing",[48] and two of Hoekstra's GOP opponents,Clark Durant and Gary Glenn, questioned whether Hoekstra was the right candidate for Republicans to support.[49] The ad was criticized byMichael Yaki, former aide toHouse SpeakerNancy Pelosi, a member of theU.S. Commission on Civil Rights, and U.S. SenatorDan Inouye.[50][51]James Fallows ofThe Atlantic called it the "most revolting ad".[52] TheNAACP denounced the ad as an "unnecessaryrace card."[53]
The ad proved costly for Hoekstra; several polls reported him losing ground to Stabenow in a head-to-head match-up.[54][55]
Hoekstra initially stood by the ad, claiming it hit Stabenow "smack dab between the eyes" on the economy.[56] However, on February 10, 2012, Hoekstra shut down his controversial Chinese-themed website and phased in a new TV commercial in place of his original ad.[57] American Values super PAC, a Chinese American group, claimed credit for the scrub shortly after the group's launch of an online viral ad condemning Hoekstra.[58]
On February 16, Chan apologized for her involvement in the ad. In a statement on herFacebook page, she said the role was "not in any way representative of who I am" and "absolutely a mistake on my part."[59]
Despite the controversy, Hoekstra won the Republican primary.[60] He lost to Stabenow in the general election.
In February 2011, Hoekstra joined the government relations group andWashington, D.C. law firmDickstein Shapiro,[61] and was named a visiting distinguished fellow at the conservativethink tankthe Heritage Foundation, concentrating on education reform.[62] In 2014, Hoekstra left Dickstein Shapiro to join one of its rivals,Greenberg Traurig.[63]
Hoekstra joinedSteven Emerson's Investigative Project on Terrorism in 2014 as aShillman Senior Fellow, specializing in national security, international relations, global terrorism and cyber security.[64]
Hoekstra published his first book in October 2015,Architects of Disaster: The Destruction of Libya with Terri Blumenfeld.
In an interview with NPR's Robert Siegel on December 10, 2014, Hoekstra said he disagreed with the recently releasedSenate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture.[65]
CNN's KFile reported that Hoekstra in 2016 accusedHuma Abedin of ties with theMuslim Brotherhood. A 2016Washington Postfact-checker gave Hoekstra's claim "fourPinocchios".[66] CNN also stated that Hoekstra was a frequent guest on a talk show hosted byFrank Gaffney, an anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist based in Washington.[67]
On March 11, 2017, Hoekstra said thatChelsea Manning,Edward Snowden, and other leakers of government materials, having illegally released classified information, were traitors and should have taken their evidence to the intelligence committees of the U.S. Congress for proper investigations.[68]
On July 24, 2017, PresidentDonald Trump nominated Hoekstra to beUnited States ambassador to the Netherlands.[69][70] He was confirmed by the Senate on November 9[71][72][73] and sworn in by Vice PresidentMike Pence on December 11, 2017.[74] He took office on January 10, 2018.[75]
Later that December,NOS U.S. correspondent Wouter Zwart questioned Hoekstra about inaccurate claims that he had made in November 2015 at a panel titled "Muslim Migration into Europe: Eurabia come True?" hosted by theDavid Horowitz Freedom Center[76] that the Netherlands had "no-go zones" and that politicians and cars were being set on fire in the country due toradical Islam.[77][78][79][80] Hoekstra told Zwart that he had never said such things, saying, "we would call itfake news. I never said that."[77] Zwart then played the clip in which he made those remarks for his viewers. Later in the interview, Hoekstra denied that he denied it, saying "I didn't call it 'fake news'. I didn't use those words today."[81] On December 23, Hoekstra issued an apology onTwitter, writing that he "made certain remarks in 2015 and regret[ted] the exchange during theNieuwsuur interview".[82]
On January 10, 2018, during his press conference after presenting his credentials to KingWillem-Alexander, Hoekstra said that he did not want to revisit the comments made in 2015. Despite repeated questions from Dutch reporters regarding these comments, Hoekstra refused to talk about these statements and refused to answer further questions.[83][84][85][86]
On January 11, 2018,Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public AffairsSteve Goldstein said that in 2015, Hoekstra "made comments that should not have been made",[87] that "the State Department does not agree with those statements" and "that is not the language we would use."[87] He added that the "comments were wrong and don't reflect the U.S. view of the Netherlands".[87] One day later, in an interview with Dutch newspaperDe Telegraaf, Hoekstra finally retracted his statement about the presence of "no-go zones" in the Netherlands where cars and politicians are being set on fire, saying: "Looking back, I'm dismayed that I said it. It was an incorrect statement. It was just wrong."[88][89] He further claimed that he could not recall how he got to the statement or what it was based on, saying: "I've mixed up countries. I was wrong, and I don't know how that could have happened. I do know: it was wrong."[90]
In September 2020, a group of Dutch officials demanded answers from Hoekstra in response to reports that he had hosted a fund-raising event at the U.S. embassy for the far right Dutch political partyForum for Democracy, a potential violation of international law.[91] This is not the first time Hoekstra has been associated with the far-right party. In May 2020, Hoekstra was interviewed by party leaderThierry Baudet on the party's video channel and he was also a guest speaker at the party's conference in November 2019.[92]
On January 20, 2024, Hoekstra was elected chair of theMichigan Republican Party.[93]
Hoekstra is listed as a "contributor" toProject 2025.[94]
On November 20, 2024, President-elect Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Hoekstra as theUnited States ambassador to Canada for the second Trump administration.[95][96] On February 12, 2025, his nomination was sent to theSenate.[97] During his confirmation hearing on March 13, 2025, Hoekstra expressed his desire to strengthen U.S.-Canada relations. Hoekstra remarked that Canada should remain in theFive Eyes alliance.[98] On April 9, 2025, Hoekstra was confirmed by the United States Senate as Ambassador to Canada.[99]
On September 18, 2025, Hoekstra criticized the Canadian response to the U.S. tariffs. He called the Liberal Party's victory in the2025 Canadian federal election as "an anti-American campaign", and objected to finance ministerFrançois-Philippe Champagne describing the tension as atrade war, which Hoekstra said was "not constructive" and "a bad place to go." Hoekstra argued that Canada has "the best tariff rate in the world" and that it is Canada that is treating the tariff dispute as a trade war.[100] Hoekstra's comments drew widespread pushback from Canadian politicians and business leaders; Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association, called them "gaslighting" and said "I don't know what his objective is, but maybe his audience is actually in Washington rather than across this country."[101] Writing in theToronto Star, Andrew Philips described Hoekstra as "infuriating, undiplomatic",[102] while inThe Globe and Mail, Gary Mason wrote "What is really shocking about his statements, however, is just how tone-deaf and arrogant they are. Can the man not even begin to understand why Canadians might be upset with tariffs that are devastating our domestic economy?"[103]
In October 2025, during a gathering of theCanadian American Business Council in Ottawa, Hoekstra used expletives including "fuck" in a rant directed at Ontario's trade representative that also mentioned Ontario PremierDoug Ford, reportedly over an anti-tariff ad that Ford's government had ran in American television markets. Trump, citing the ads, had haltedongoing trade negotiations and threatened to impose an additional 10% tariff on Canadian goods.[104][105] Ford called on Hoekstra to apologize the following day.[106][107][108]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)'They should stay there. They should not go back to Yemen,' Hoekstra said. 'If they go back to Yemen, we will very soon find them back on the battlefield going after Americans and other western interests.'
'Yesterday just highlights the fact that sending this many people back—or any people back—to Yemen right now is a really bad idea,' said Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.), the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee. 'It's just dumb….If you made a list of what the three dumbest countries would be to send people back to, Yemen would be on all the lists.'
Former U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra of Michigan has been named a visiting distinguished fellow atThe Heritage Foundation. He will concentrate on education reform for the prominent think tank.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | MemberU.S. House of Representatives fromMichigan's 2nd congressional district 1993–2011 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair ofHouse Intelligence Committee 2004–2007 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Ranking Member of the House Intelligence Committee 2007–2011 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Republican nominee forU.S. Senator fromMichigan (Class 1) 2012 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Malinda Pego Acting | Chair of theMichigan Republican Party 2024–2025 | Succeeded by |
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by | United States Ambassador to the Netherlands 2018–2021 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | United States Ambassador to Canada 2025–present | Incumbent |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded byas Former U.S. Representative | Order of precedence of the United States as Former U.S. Representative | Succeeded byas Former U.S. Representative |
 | ||
 | ||
i - Select Committee chairs | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
