WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump announced Saturday that he has selected longtime foreign policy adviser Richard Grenell to serve as special missions envoy, tasking him with leading the new government in dealing with some of the toughest foreign policy areas. challenges.
Grenell served as ambassador to Germany during the first Trump administration, special presidential envoy for peace negotiations in Serbia and Kosovo, and served a stint as acting director of national intelligence.
He was also a contender to become secretary of state, but Trump chose to nominate Senator Marco Rubio of Florida.
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“Ric will be working in some of the hottest places in the world, including Venezuela and North Korea,” Trump said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social announcing the appointment.
Grenell developed a reputation during Trump’s first term for taking a sometimes controversial approach to diplomacy that riled allies and Washington’s foreign policy establishment. But his style was appreciated by the president-elect, who sees value in blunt conversations with allies.
Grenell remained close to Trump after he left office in 2021 and was at times a key foreign policy adviser.
He was in the room when Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in September. Grenell has advocated a peace deal that would preserve Ukrainian territory while allowing “autonomous regions” where Russia could maintain control.
He is also discouraged from expanding NATO to include Ukraine, saying — as Trump has done — that the alliance should not grow until current members meet the alliance’s defense spending targets. Members of the transatlantic alliance have for years committed to spending 2% of their GDP on defense, but several countries are still falling short of their target.
He was an early supporter of Trump’s 2024 campaign and organized multiple events for the Republican candidate, focusing on the economy and national security.
Speaking at the Republican National Convention, Grenell reiterated Trump’s mantra that “it’s time to put America first” on the world stage and argued that China and Russia view President Joe Biden’s administration as weak.
Trump raised concerns among some allies during the 2024 campaign when he said he would not defend NATO members who failed to meet defense spending targets and warned that he would ‘encourage’ ‘to do whatever they want’ with the alliance countries he calls “delinquent.”
Grenell has downplayed Trump’s criticism of NATO, saying the only talk about leaving the alliance completely “really came from the media.”
“What we’re saying is don’t come to the wedding without a gift,” Grenell said.
Grenell was part of Trump’s campaign among Arab-American voters in Michigan, where the president-elect made gains with a traditionally Democratic constituency despite his history of banning immigration from several Muslim countries. Grenell organized pro-Trump events with Arab-American voters, including a May rally in Troy, Michigan.
Grenell, a U.S. spokesperson at the United Nations during the George W. Bush administration, like many Republicans, has his own history of criticizing Trump before embracing him.
Once an adviser to Republican moderates such as 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney and a supporter of same-sex marriage, Grenell, who is openly gay, deleted social media posts labeling Trump as “reckless” and “dangerous” when the former reality star TV star became the Republican candidate. in 2016.
Trump also announced Saturday that he will appoint Devin Nunes, the CEO of the president-elect’s Truth Social platform, to head a presidential advisory board that will oversee the U.S. intelligence community.
Nunes will continue to lead Trump Media & Technology Group. Trump is the company’s largest shareholder.
The former California lawmaker chaired the House Intelligence Committee and was one of Trump’s closest allies in Congress during the newly elected president’s first term.
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Kinnard reported from Columbia, South Carolina.
