Christopher Landau

Christopher Thomas Landau (born November 13, 1963) is an American lawyer and diplomat serving as the United States deputy secretary of state since 2025. He previously served as the United States ambassador to Mexico from 2019 to 2021.

Landau studied law at Harvard University. After graduation, he clerked for conservative judges Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.

In December 2024, President-elect Trump nominated Landau to serve as deputy secretary of state in his second administration.

Early life and education

Christopher Thomas Landau was born on November 13, 1963, in Madrid, Spanish State, where his father, George W. Landau (later United States ambassador to Paraguay, Chile, and Venezuela), was then stationed with the United States Foreign Service.

Landau attended the American School of Asunción, Paraguay, for five years.

Landau graduated from Groton School in Groton, Massachusetts, in 1981. He earned his BA in history, summa cum laude, from Harvard College in 1985, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa his junior year and earned a certificate in Latin American studies. He wrote his senior thesis on U.S. relations with Venezuela's first freely elected president, Rómulo Gallegos. He received his JD, magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 1989, where he was articles co-chair of the Harvard Law Review.

Legal career

After graduating from law school, Landau clerked for Judge Clarence Thomas of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He later clerked for Thomas again in 1990 to 1991 after Thomas was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court and then Justice Antonin Scalia in 1991–92. During the former clerkship, Landau was co-clerk with Lawrence Lessig; during the latter clerkship, he was co-clerk with Gregory G. Katsas, Gregory E. Maggs, and Stephen R. McAllister.

In 1993, Landau joined Kirkland & Ellis as an associate, becoming a partner in 1995. He was chairman of the firm's appellate practice until he left after twenty-five years to join Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan in 2018.

From 1994 to 1995, Landau was an adjunct professor of administrative law at the Georgetown University Law Center. In 2017, the chief justice of the United States appointed him to the advisory committee on the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure. Landau served as a trustee of the United States Supreme Court Historical Society, and chair of the society's Programs Committee. He was also a director of the Diplomacy Center Foundation, which supports the United States Diplomacy Center at the United States Department of State.

Landau being sworn in as ambassador to Mexico by Justice Clarence Thomas, with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo looking on

Diplomatic career United States ambassador to Mexico

On March 26, 2019, President Donald Trump nominated Landau as United States ambassador to Mexico. On August 1, 2019, the Senate unanimously confirmed his nomination by voice vote. He was sworn into office on August 12, 2019, arrived in Mexico on August 16, 2019, and presented his credentials to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on August 26, 2019. As Ambassador, Landau made the issue of immigration a top policy priority.

On September 9, 2020, President Trump added Landau to a list of potential nominees to the Supreme Court of the United States. After Joe Biden succeeded Trump as President, Landau left his post as ambassador in 2021, and was replaced by former U.S. Senator from Colorado Ken Salazar.

Social media usage As ambassador to Mexico, Landau was noted for his heavy usage of social media. In 2020, he launched a challenge on Twitter to boost his follower count in order to exceed the 150,000 followers boasted by the ambassador to Greece Geoffrey R. Pyatt, noting his follower count was only 40,000 despite Mexico's much larger population. Landau tweeted in Spanish "This is an outrage! … Mexico has to be #1!" By July 2020, Landau's follower count had exploded to 245,000, in what Slate described as providing "an unexpected lesson in American digital diplomacy."

In September 2020, Landau was accused of cyberbullying Mariana Braojos, a Mexican college student who criticized him on Twitter. Landau replied by sarcastically saying, "Obviously, your great education and knowledge of the world would allow you to do diplomatic work much better than the 'rudimentary' communications of this 'white foreigner.' " The student reportedly closed their account on Twitter following the exchange.

United States deputy secretary of state Nomination Landau was nominated to be deputy secretary of state by President-elect Donald Trump on December 8, 2024. Top Trump official Stephen Miller had lobbied for his appointment. On the day of his appointment, Landau declared that one of his priorities would be the relationship between the United States and Mexico. His appointment was welcomed by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who said he had done a "very good job" as U.S. ambassador to Mexico.

During his confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on March 4, 2025, Landau supported the dismantling of USAID and proposed that it be replaced by private sector investment. He also 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. Landau called for a reduction in the U.S. trade deficit. He also stated that he believes in the rule of law and will implement all laws passed by Congress. The committee voted 16–6 in favor of his nomination on March 12, 2025. Landau won the support of some Democrats.

Tenure On March 24, 2025, the Senate confirmed his nomination 60–31 and he was sworn in as the twenty-third United States deputy secretary of state the following day. One of his first actions was a call on March 26, 2025, with the Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs Juan Ramón de la Fuente, in which Landau pledged to strengthen the bilateral relationship between their two countries. On the same day, he had a call with the Argentine Foreign Minister Gerardo Werthein in which Landau praised Argentina's role in the region and its protection of political opponents of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.