Trump gives Mike Huckabee a controversial job in his administration — UPDATE: Trump denies reports

UPDATE 3:58 p.m. ET: A Trump team official told the Independent Journal Review that "reports suggesting President-elect Donald Trump has selected former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to be U.S. ambassador to Israel are not true."

Original story below

According to reports, President-elect Donald Trump has chosen former Arkansas Republican Gov. Mike Huckabee as his ambassador to Israel. A transition official also stated that Huckabee has been tasked with leading the effort to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, fulfilling a campaign promise Trump made and undoubtedly angering the Palestinians (and their backers in the wider Muslim world) in the process.

The earliest appointments in Trump administrations have been handed out primarily to Trump's earliest supporters. Friday morning Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) was announced as Trump's pick for attorney general. Sessions was the first (and only) member of the Senate to endorse Trump in the Republican primary. Huckabee did not openly endorse Trump in the primary, but he did so immediately after Trump effectively clinched the nomination by winning the GOP primary in Indiana. Additionally, Huckabee's daughter served as campaign adviser and surrogate for the Trump campaign after her father dropped out of the race.

According to the Daily Mail, Huckabee has accepted the challenge of moving the embassy and the ensuing controversy that is sure to follow. If the United States completes the move, it will be the first country in the world to have its embassy in Jerusalem.