Newly elected President Donald Trump on Saturday asked businessman and major political donor Bill White to serve as US ambassador to Belgium.
White is the founder and CEO of Constellations Group, a Manhattan-based consulting firm, and previously served as president of the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum in New York.
“Bill has worked tirelessly to support great American patriots who have given their all for our country by raising more than $1.5 billion for our fallen heroes, catastrophically injured and severely burned service members,” Trump said in a post on Truth on Saturday Social. “He has twice received the Meritorious Public Service Award for extraordinary service to the U.S. Coast Guard and for outstanding support of the U.S. Navy.”
White abruptly stepped down from his role as Intrepid leader in 2010 amid an investigation by then-New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo into a state pension scandal. White is alleged to have acted as a middleman for investment firms hoping to land deals with the sovereign wealth fund, and “secretly” collected fees on those deals — or as Cuomo put it, “used his access to line his pockets.” White ultimately agreed to pay a $1 million settlement.
White was a major Trump donor and surrogate for his 2024 campaign, although the millionaire investor backed President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, both Democrats, in previous races. During the 2012 presidential election, White, who is openly gay, publicly withdrew his support of Mitt Romney, saying he was “on the wrong side of history” for his stance on marriage equality.
