FORGOTTEN HISTORY: Trump picks alpha male influencer for top spot as tourism envoy | History Defined

Alongside the announcement, he posted a 16-minute promotional video about himself called “The Nick Adams Story.”

Adams will serve as Special Presidential Envoy for American Tourism, Exceptionalism, and Values, according to the administration. He began in the position last week, per the State Department website.

During its first term, the Trump administration appointed Adams to the board of the Woodrow Wilson Center, a policy forum. Adams, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Australia, also leads the non-profit Foundation for Liberty and American Greatness, which “teaches civics and informs parents and students on the power of the American Dream,” according to the State Department.

The content creator does not appear to have prior high-level diplomatic experience, though he did serve as a deputy mayor in Australia.

In more recent years, Adams has attracted a following online for his colorful persona.

He often sings the virtues of Hooters, the chain restaurant known for its waitresses in skimpy uniforms, and claims he has “a special table reserved at virtually every single Hooters in the continental US,” as he put it in one post on X.

He’s also known for frequent takes regarding the “alpha male” lifestyle, a stamp of approval he gave to a recent video of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. working out in and taking a cold plunge in jeans with musician Kid Rock.

Adams regularly offers lavish praise to the Trump administration online.

“President Trump is always right,” he wrote in one recent post.

Last year, the administration nominated Adams to serve as ambassador to Malaysia, though the nomination didn’t clear the Senate then lapsed at the end of the year.

Malaysians protested the nomination, arguing Adams was Islamophobic.

Adams, in his 2016 book Retaking America, wrote that the internment of Muslims should be discussed because of “significant evidence of disloyalty … both on the individual and mosque level,” according to an excerpt obtained by The Sydney Morning Herald.

Adams assumes his new post at a challenging time for U.S. tourism.

U.S. airports have been plagued with slow wait times, amid the ongoing partial government shutdown and a related shortage of Transportation Security Administration agents.

Recent incidents like a fatal crash at LaGuardia Airport in New York City may further damage perceptions of U.S. tourism, following a year when visitors to the U.S. were also targets of the White House’s mass deportation campaign.

The concerns will all be top of mind as the U.S., Mexico, and Canada are slated to host the FIFA men’s World Cup this year.