Washington, March 14 (IANS) US President Donald Trump has nominated Kenneth Weinstein, the president and CEO of the conservative think tank Hudson Institute, as the US ambassador to Japan.

Weinstein, a fluent speaker of French and German, also serves on the Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiations, which advises the US Trade Representative, the White House said in a statement on Friday.

Weinstein's nomination still requires confirmation of the Senate. The position of the US ambassador to Japan has been vacant since July, when then Ambassador William Hagerty resigned from his post to run for Tennessee's open US Senate seat, Xinhua news agency reported.

--IANS sdr/