President Donald Trump has said he will nominate State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert to be the next US ambassador to the United Nations.

Mr Trump describes Ms Nauert to reporters as “very talented” and “very smart”.

Ms Nauert is to replace Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor who announced in October that she would step down as ambassador at the end of this year.

Ms Nauert is a former Fox News Channel reporter who had little foreign policy experience before becoming State Department spokeswoman.

Nikki Haley Award
Nikki Haley announced in October that she would step down at the end of this year (Seth Wenig/AP)

If confirmed by the Senate, she would be a leading administration voice on Mr Trump’s foreign policy.

Mr Trump made the announcement to reporters Friday as he departed the White House for a trip to Kansas City.

Plucked from Fox by the White House to serve as State Department spokeswoman, Ms Nauert catapulted into the upper echelons of the agency’s hierarchy when Rex Tillerson was fired in March and replaced with Mike Pompeo.

Ms Nauert was then appointed acting undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs and was for a time the highest-ranking woman and fourth highest-ranking official in the building.

Trump Hanukkah
Donald Trump called Heather Nauert ‘excellent’ last month (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

Ms Nauert, who did not have a good relationship with Mr Tillerson and had considered leaving the department, told associates at the time she was taken aback by the promotion offer and recommended a colleague for the job.

But when White House officials told her they wanted her, she accepted.