White House nominated Brent Christensen as the next US ambassador to Bangladesh

The White House has nominated career diplomat Brent Christensen as the next US ambassador to Bangladesh, subject to confirmation by the US Senate.

Christensen, a senior member of the Foreign Service with the rank of counsellor, is currently serving as the senior official performing the duties of under-secretary for Arms Control and International Security. He was appointed to that post by US President Donald Trump in January 2025.

Christensen is no stranger to Bangladesh, having served as counsellor for political and economic affairs at the US Embassy in Dhaka between 2019 and 2021. His previously served as Bangladesh Country Officer in the State Department’s Office of Pakistan and Bangladesh Affairs.

If confirmed, he will succeed the current chargé d’affaires and become Washington’s top diplomat in Bangladesh at a time when relations between the countries are being reset by a new US tariff framework.

CAREER IN DIPLOMACY

From August 2022 to January 2025, Christensen served as foreign policy advisor to the commander of US Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), where he advised on the international implications of America’s global strategic deterrence mission.

Over his more than two-decade career in the Foreign Service, he has held senior posts in Washington and overseas. These include deputy director of the Office of Regional Security and Arms Transfers at the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, special assistant to the Special Representative for North Korea Policy, and Pearson Fellow to the US House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific.

He has also served in US embassies in Manila, San Salvador, Riyadh, and Ho Chi Minh City.

Christensen is a Distinguished Graduate of the National War College, where he completed a Master of Science in National Security Strategy in 2022. He also holds a Master’s in statistics from Texas A&M University and a Bachelor’s degree in economics and managerial studies from Rice University.

He speaks Spanish, German, and Vietnamese, and has studied French, Japanese, and Portuguese. Before joining the Foreign Service in 2002, he worked as a management consultant in Houston and New York.

Christensen’s nomination lands as US trade policy under President Trump introduces a baseline 10 percent tariff on all imports, alongside country-specific “reciprocal” rates rolled out by executive orders this year and now in effect.

Dhaka has been locked in talks with Washington in a bid to reduce US duties on Bangladeshi goods, which initially stood at 37 percent. In August, Bangladesh secured a breakthrough as the tariff rate was lowered to 20 percent.

The talks have been bound up with a broader quid-pro-quo, with Dhaka agreeing to buy more US goods, ranging from farm commodities to industrial inputs, to narrow the trade gap.

At the same time, Bangladesh has sought formal engagement with the US Trade Representative to keep the tariff dialogue moving as it pushes for a further reduction in the rate to 15 percent.