President-elect Donald Trump announced Monday morning that he plans to appoint Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. It’s a big step for the 40-year-old rising star, who first became a member of the House of Representatives just a decade ago and now occupies a top position.

For those with a background in diplomacy, USUN (as the job within the State Department is known) would be a crown jewel in their career. For Stefanik, the appointment brings her closer to Trump — at least on paper. In practice, however, taking the job at Turtle Bay could cause her ascendancy in the MAGA ranks to come crashing back down to earth.

If Stefanik takes over from current Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield — expanding the roster of women representing the U.S. at the U.N. Security Council and other forums — she would be at the forefront of some of the most complex challenges facing the U.S. international community faces, from the war in Ukraine to halting climate change to setting global rules for artificial intelligence. Stefanik is also expected to serve as the lead translator for the Trump administration’s actions during daily interactions with other ambassadors.

Stefanik’s only contribution to foreign affairs lately has been her extremely outspoken defense of Israel as the country continues its assault on Gaza. Other than that, her diplomatic skills may be a bit atrophied. While Trump’s first U.N. ambassador, Nikki Haley, was governor of South Carolina and her successor, Kelly Craft, at least had a business background to draw from, Stefanik has spent the last few years with little more than Trump’s approval in mind worked. Those skills were built for the halls (and greenrooms) of the Capitol, not the UN headquarters.

We can also look at Haley’s tenure to get an idea of ​​what Stefanik’s career could look like. Haley found herself relatively isolated from the rest of the chaos of the early Trump years, for better or for worse. The good thing was that she didn’t have to put up with the daily struggle. And although she ostensibly worked for Secretaries of State Rex Tillerson and Mike Pompeo, she was a power center of her own in New York. She even managed to build decent relations with UN Secretary General António Guterres and many of her fellow ambassadors before her departure in 2018.

The downside for Haley was that her removal from Washington also meant that she had less influence on the direction of the government in general. She also could never fully say she was speaking directly for the US, not when Trump could contradict her at any time via tweet. Haley’s experience does not bode well for Stefanik, who will be plagued with questions about Trump’s intentions, and her power bases among the Washington elite and MAGA faithful will not be particularly helpful in negotiations with China and Russia.

The potential stranglehold on Stefanik’s apparent career trajectory would most likely make her hesitate about Trump’s offer. After coming to Washington as a moderate Republican, she rebranded herself as a MAGA image and impressed Trump with her aggressive, fact-free defense of him during his first impeachment. Since his first presidency, she has remained committed at every opportunity, attacking the judge in his New York trial, refusing to guarantee she would concede a loss to Trump in this year’s election and trying to stall his impeachment proceedings to have the conference report deleted. It was pleading enough to see her as one of those Trump was considering as his running mate this summer.

Stefanik’s rise among the Republican Party made the reasoning behind her transformation quite transparent. She was quick to act when Republicans demoted Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., from her role as chair of the House Republican Conference for daring to say Trump incited the Capitol attack on 6 January. During last year’s struggle to find a new speaker, Stefanik considered running for a promotion and possibly ascending to majority leader of the House of Representatives. Other Republicans are already pushing to replace Stefanik in the House of Representatives if the Senate confirms her next year. Her vacant seat could also make it harder for the potentially narrow majority of Republicans to pass anything while a special election is being held in her district.

But the fact that the domestic politics of her appointment are likely to overshadow any discussion of the policy implications speaks volumes about what her appointment would mean for the UN itself. Beyond the struggle to secure peace and security, the humanitarian work carried out by the wider UN system is vital to millions of people worldwide. Stefanik’s appointment signals a lack of willingness to support these missions, especially given her desire to halt UN aid efforts in Gaza and the West Bank. Stefanik as UN ambassador would signal a further retreat from a position of authority and leadership as she carries out her boss’s desire to put America first.

The ambition Stefanik has shown so far makes it likely that she will want to continue pushing her way closer to the center of power in Trump’s world. The role of UN ambassador is a difficult post to make that climb because its public nature belies its distance from decision-making in Washington. It also seems unlikely that she will throw herself into the role in the same way that Haley did, risking souring Trump’s opinion of her. And there are few things Trump hates more than having a loser in his midst, which means she should at least try to show competence in diplomatic battles. It’s a balancing act that Stefanik, publicly one of MAGA’s most ardent disciples, may privately resent.