1. Christopher Thomas Landau was born on November 13,1963 and is an American lawyer and diplomat who has served as the United States deputy secretary of state since 2025.
22 Facts About Christopher Landau
1. 2.
Christopher Landau previously served as the United States ambassador to Mexico from 2019 to 2021.
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In December 2024, President-elect Trump nominated Christopher Landau to serve as the United States deputy secretary of state in his second administration.
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Christopher Landau was born in Madrid, Spain, where his father, George Christopher Landau, was then stationed with the Foreign Service.
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Christopher Landau's father, who was Jewish, was born in Vienna and fled to South America after the Nazi annexation of Austria in 1938.
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Christopher Landau attended the American School of Asuncion, Paraguay, for five years.
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Christopher Landau is fluent in Spanish and proficient in French, which he learned from childhood.
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Christopher Landau graduated from Groton School in Groton, Massachusetts, in 1981.
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Christopher Landau wrote his senior thesis, which was awarded the Hoopes Prize, on United States relations with the leftist government of Venezuela in the mid 1940s.
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Christopher Landau has argued nine cases before the US Supreme Court, including two on behalf of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and has briefed and argued appeals in all of the US Courts of Appeals.
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From 1994 to 1995, Christopher Landau was an adjunct professor of administrative law at the Georgetown University Law Center.
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Christopher Landau served as a Trustee of the United States Supreme Court Historical Society, and Chair of the Society's Programs Committee.
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Christopher Landau was a Director of the Diplomacy Center Foundation, which supports the United States Diplomacy Center at the United States Department of State.
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On March 26,2019, President Donald Trump nominated Christopher Landau as United States Ambassador to Mexico.
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Christopher Landau was sworn into office on August 12,2019, arrived in Mexico on August 16,2019, and presented his credentials to President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on August 26,2019.
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In September 2020, Christopher Landau was accused of cyberbullying a Mexican college student who criticized him on Twitter.
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Christopher Landau was nominated to be Deputy Secretary of State by Donald Trump on December 8,2024.
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Christopher Landau's appointment was welcomed by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who said he had done a very good job as US Ambassador to Mexico.
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Christopher Landau asserted that China was the United States' main strategic competitor, and that they would have to work with their allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific, such as the members of ASEAN and QUAD.
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Christopher Landau called for a reduction in the US trade deficit.
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Christopher Landau stated that he believes in the rule of law and will implement all laws passed by Congress.
22.
One of his first actions was a call on March 26,2025 with the Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs Juan Ramon de la Fuente, in which Christopher Landau pledged to strengthen the bilateral relationship between their two countries.