First lady Melania Trump has been insistent on finding a woman with business experience for the post, according to people familiar with the process. | Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images Ambassador pick for Melania Trump's home country withdraws

Melania Trump’s choice for U.S. ambassador to her home country of Slovenia, Kelly Roberts, has withdrawn her name from consideration, according to three people familiar with the matter.

Two people close to the process said Roberts, the chief operating officer of the historic Mission Inn in Riverside, California, decided to withdraw because of issues related to the divestiture of her assets.


The first lady has taken a personal interest in helping choose the Trump administration’s envoy to her home country. She has been especially insistent on finding a woman with business experience for the post, according to the people familiar with the process.

Roberts initially requested other countries besides Slovenia but agreed to accept the position at Melania Trump’s urging. She had not been formally nominated yet but had started the background check process for the diplomatic posting, which requires Senate confirmation. Roberts sent in a letter of withdrawal this month before starting ambassador training, according to the people familiar with the process.

Playbook PM Sign up for our must-read newsletter on what's driving the afternoon in Washington. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Roberts is a prominent Republican fundraiser and early Trump supporter who donated $50,000 to Trump’s super PAC, Great America PAC. She and her husband, Duane Roberts, donated $1.2 million to Republican candidates in the 2016 cycle.

Roberts declined to comment.

A spokesperson for Melania Trump did not respond to a request for comment on the status of the search.

At the Republican National Convention, Melania Trump described Slovenia, which was a part of communist Yugoslavia when she was born in 1970, as a “small, beautiful and then-Communist country in Central Europe.”

