In September 2017,Trump nominated Grenell as the U.S. ambassador to Germany. On April 26,2018,he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate by a vote of 56 to 42.[4] Grenell presented his credentials to the president of Germany,Frank-Walter Steinmeier,on May 8,2018. His tenure in Germany was controversial;he was described as politically and diplomatically isolated due to his association with the far right,and he was criticized as displaying a lack of professionalism.[5][6][7]
Grenell worked for Republican candidate Mitt Romney as a spokesperson (on foreign policy),during his 2012 presidential campaign,making him the first openly gay person in that role for a Republican presidential candidate.[27][28]
In 2016,Grenell's consulting firm accepted more than $100,000 from the Magyar Foundation of North America to provide public relations support for the Hungarian government of controversial right-wing prime minister Viktor Orbán. Grenell did not disclose this payment under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) prior to his work in the Trump administration.[30]
During the 2016 Republican primaries,Grenell warned his Twitter followers about Donald Trump,describing him as "unserious","reckless",and "dangerous". Grenell deleted all of his negative tweets about Trump after Trump became the Republican nominee. Grenell then began praising Trump regularly on Fox News and on Twitter.[31]
Days after Grenell's appointment as DNI,CNN reported that his personal website had —until 2018 —touted consulting work he had done for clients in Iran,China,Kazakhstan,and other countries.[32]
Ambassador to Germany (2017–2020)
Grenell (left) with Berlin Governing Mayor Michael Müller in 2018Ambassador Grenell and Deputy Chief of Mission Kent Logsdon with Yehudah Teichtal at the U.S. Embassy in Berlin,2018
Grenell presented his credentials to the president of Germany on May 8,2018.[38] Within hours of taking office,Grenell offended German diplomats and business leaders when he tweeted that "German companies doing business in Iran should wind down operations immediately".[39] The tweet was widely perceived as a threat,with the Foreign Minister of Luxembourg,Jean Asselborn,commenting that "This man was accredited as ambassador only yesterday. To give German businesses such orders (…) that is just not how you can treat your allies".[40] The leader of Germany's Social Democratic Party said that Grenell "does appear to need some tutoring" in the "fine art of diplomacy",while the Left Party urged the Merkel government to summon Grenell to explain his comments.[40]
Grenell stirred controversy in June 2018 by telling Breitbart News,"I absolutely want to empower other conservatives throughout Europe,other leaders".[41] This comment was described as a breach of diplomatic protocol and a breach of Article 41 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations,which stipulates that ambassadors have a "duty not to interfere in the internal affairs of that State".[5][41] Prominent German politicians called for Grenell's dismissal.[42][43][44][45]Martin Schulz,former leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany,said,"What this man is doing is unheard of in international diplomacy. If a German ambassador were to say in Washington that he is there to boost the Democrats,he would have been kicked out immediately."[42]
Ambassador portrait
Grenell was a regular contributor on Fox News's Tucker Carlson Tonight during the first few months of his ambassadorship in Germany. In November 2018,he appeared on the show and repeated his criticism of Angela Merkel's immigration policies. Grenell contrasted Merkel with the recently elected Chancellor of AustriaSebastian Kurz,who (according to Grenell) "won in a very big way" because of his strict stance on immigration. The magazine Der Spiegel called these remarks a "thinly veiled call for a change of government in Berlin".[5] Grenell's perceived interference in German politics drew criticism from several high-ranking German politicians. In March 2019,Wolfgang Kubicki,Vice President of the Bundestag and deputy chairman of the Free Democratic Party,charged Grenell with acting "like a high commissioner of an occupying power" and called for Grenell to be expelled from Germany.[46][47]
In December 2018,during the furor surrounding Der Spiegel writer Claas Relotius,who it turned out had been fabricating stories for years,Grenell wrote to the magazine,complained about an anti-American institutional bias,and asked for an independent investigation.[48][49][50] In January 2019,Grenell told Handelsblatt that European companies participating in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline are "always in danger,because sanctions are always possible". U.S. administrations had long opposed the Russian-backed Nord Stream 2,a pipeline for delivering natural gas from Russia to Germany.[51] Grenell also threatened to sanction German companies involved in the construction of the Nord Stream 2.[52]
Der Spiegel published a profile of Grenell on January 11,2019,using interviews with 30 “American and German diplomats,cabinet members,lawmakers,high-ranking officials,lobbyists and think tank experts". The magazine wrote that "almost all of these sources paint an unflattering portrait of the ambassador,one remarkably similar to Donald Trump,the man who sent him to Berlin. A majority of them describe Grenell as a vain,narcissistic person who dishes out aggressively,but can barely handle criticism." The profile claimed that Grenell was politically isolated in Berlin because of his alleged association with the far-right Alternative for Germany Party,causing the leaders of the mainstream German parties —including the Chancellor herself —to avoid contact with him;while Grenell had pressed German parliamentarians to invite him to their districts,most had declined.[5] The sources claimed that Grenell knew little "about Germany and Europe,that he ignores most of the dossiers his colleagues at the embassy write for him,and that his knowledge of the subject matter is superficial".[5][53]
In the fall of 2018,Grenell played a key diplomatic role in planning the arrest of Julian Assange by providing backchannel assurances to Ecuador that Assange would not face the death penalty in the United States.[54] In February 2019,it was announced that Grenell was leading the Trump administration's newly formed effort to promote the decriminalization of homosexuality in nations in which homosexuality was illegal.[55] In January 2020,Lev Parnas told The Daily Beast that he was told to ask Grenell for advance notice if the DOJ were to move to extradite indicted Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash.[56][57] Among other actions as ambassador,Grenell pressured Germany to take a tougher stance against Iran and Hezbollah.[58]
Following his appointment as Acting Director of National Intelligence,Grenell has said he would resign as ambassador once a full-time DNI was confirmed.[59][60][61] On May 25,2020,after John Ratcliffe was confirmed,Grenell confirmed he would resign as ambassador in the coming weeks.[62][63][64] He formally resigned on June 1,2020.[65][66][67]
Special presidential envoy for Serbia and Kosovo peace negotiations
In October 2019,Trump named Grenell a special envoy for Serbia and Kosovo peace negotiations.[68] He continued serving part-time as special envoy after his resignation as ambassador,working from the White House.[69][70][71] After months of diplomatic talks,on January 20,2020,Grenell facilitated negotiations between Serbia and Kosovo where the two nations agreed to restore flights between their capitals for the first time in more than two decades.[72][73] A June 27,2020 peace summit between the two sides was arranged to take place in Washington D.C.,but was canceled due to the potential indictment of Hashim Thaçi on war crimes.[74][75]
According to a report by NPR,Grenell pressured Kosovo prime minister Albin Kurti to accept a deal favorable to Serbia,including dropping tariffs and agreeing to land swaps,and publicly threatened to withdraw U.S. peacekeepers. The analysis says this contributed to Kurti's removal as prime minister,prompting popular protests from his anti-corruption supporters.[76]
On February 13,2020,Shelby Pierson —the intelligence community's top election security official,deputy to Joseph Maguire —advised members of the House Intelligence Committee that Russia was interfering in the 2020 election in an effort to get Trump re-elected. Trump chastised Maguire for allowing the briefing,concerned that Democrats might "weaponize" the information against him.[79][80][81]
As a temporary incumbent,Grenell was not subject to Senate confirmation. Although Trump indicated he would be appointing a new U.S. Ambassador to Germany,[85] Grenell kept this position while also serving in his new role,[86] and Grenell indicated he did not expect to take the Director of National Intelligence job on a permanent basis.[85]
On February 28,2020,Trump announced the nomination of U.S. representative John Ratcliffe to the post of Director of National Intelligence. The nomination allowed Grenell to stay on as Acting Director pending Ratcliffe's confirmation.[87][88] With Ratcliffe's confirmation and installation,Grenell's tenure as Acting Director ended on May 26,2020.[89] Trump gave Grenell his physical Cabinet chair upon Grenell's resignation,something unusual for an acting Cabinet member.[90]
Policies
Grenell enacted a hiring freeze at ODNI and ordered a review of the agency's personnel and mission.[91] On May 8,he announced a reorganization of ODNI including a consolidated cyber office,[92][93] and on May 15,he announced organizational changes to the National Counterterrorism Center.[94] Also on May 15,Grenell announced that ODNI would lead election security threat briefings for 2020 presidential candidates,replacing the FBI.[95][96][97]
In April 2020,Grenell said the administration was considering policies to reduce intelligence-sharing with countries that criminalize homosexuality.[98] On April 29,2020,he ordered each intelligence agency to review their policies on handling and sharing information on U.S. citizens.[99][100]
On April 2 and 15,2020,Grenell acted to declassify several footnotes in a report on FISA abuse released by DOJ Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz.[101][102] He also played a role in the release of 57 transcripts of Russia probe interviews by the House Intelligence Committee.[103][104][105] On May 12,2020,Grenell declassified the names of Obama administration officials who unmaskedMichael Flynn.[106][107] A subsequent Justice Department investigation of Obama administration unmasking concluded in October 2020 with no findings of substantive wrongdoing.[108] On May 19,2020,Grenell declassified an email that Obama's national security advisor Susan Rice sent to herself.[109] On the day his tenure ended,Grenell declassified several documents related to the Russia probe.[110]
Private sector (2020–present)
In August 2020,the American Center for Law and Justice announced that Grenell had been named Special Advisor for National Security and Foreign Policy[111] for the organization. That month,Grenell became a senior advisor to the Republican National Committee,focusing on outreach to LGBT voters.[112]
Controversies
Matt Lashey,Chadian ambassador Mariam Ali Moussa and Grenell in the Berlin Embassy in 2019
Grenell's selection as a foreign policy adviser to the 2012 Romney campaign stirred up two related controversies. One was due to his "snarky" tweets about various public women,and the other because he is openly gay.[3]
Democratic national security leader Susan E. Rice has described Grenell as "one of the most nasty,dishonest people I’ve ever encountered."[113] Veteran journalist Irwin Arieff,who worked more than 20 years at Reuters,including seven years covering the United Nations,described Grenell as "the most dishonest and deceptive press person I ever worked with."[114]
A February 20,2020,White House press release announcing the appointment of Grenell to the post of acting director of National Intelligence,stated that Grenell had "years of experience working with our Intelligence Community in a number of additional positions";[115] however,this assertion was disputed by others who asserted Grenell had little background in intelligence matters.[116][117][118] Republican senator Susan Collins,one of four co-authors of the legislation creating the ODNI in 2004,said:"I care deeply about that position and believe the person needs experience in the intelligence community,which regrettably Ambassador Grenell does not have."[119]
On the day his tenure began,it was reported that Grenell had not disclosed payments for advocacy work on behalf of Moldovan politician Vladimir Plahotniuc,who has been accused of stealing USD 1 billion from the Moldavan banking system between 2012 and 2014.[120][121]
On March 10,2020,Grenell declined to attend a congressional hearing on election security,"citing apprehension about his preparedness to address sensitive subjects that tend to upset the president."[122]
Grenell claimed in August 2020 that "President Trump is the most pro-gay president in American history. I can prove it." The Washington Post fact-checker gave his claim "Four Pinocchios" and described the claim as absurd. The fact-checker noted,"the only items Grenell can cite in support of his supposedly pro-gay record concern Grenell’s own temporary appointment and a policy announced by Grenell that Trump apparently knew little about... That’s pretty thin gruel on which to claim Trump is the most pro-gay president in history,especially when Trump has worked actively to undermine protections for the LGBT community that were enacted under Obama."[123]
On November 5,2020,Grenell appeared as a speaker of the Trump campaign press conference in Las Vegas,pushing the local effort to overturn the presidential election Donald Trump had lost and announcing a federal lawsuit against "illegal" votes. He made allegations of fraud,claiming that non-residents and people who were long dead had voted in Nevada and accusing the state of covering up these incidents. When asked by journalists to identify himself and present evidence backing up any of his claims,Grenell refused to answer the questions and told reporters:"You're here to take in information".[124] All the post-election lawsuits related to Nevada were later either dropped or dismissed.
A few days later,LGBTQ Nation criticized Grenell after he had been tricked on Veterans Day,November 11,2020,into tweeting well wishes to William Calley,the former U.S. Armyofficer convicted for the premeditated killings of 22 unarmed civilians in the 1968 MỹLai massacre during the Vietnam War. The Nation journalist Ken Klippenstein had tweeted a picture of Calley to Grenell,pretending it was a photo of his own grandfather and requesting public recognition of the elderly veteran. In response,Grenell tweeted,"Thank you for your service,Bill Calley! #VeteransDay". Upon learning that he had been the victim of a joke,Grenell tweeted,"Duped. Trying to be helpful to people who reach out on Veteran's Day. It's a shame people would do this on a day like today. DC is a sick city."[125][126][127]
Grenell sought to build support for Trump's 2024 presidential campaign among some Libertarian activists and donors.[128] After Trump's speech at the 2024 Libertarian National Convention,which received a mixed response from the audience,Grenell went on social media to defend Trump from critics,writing "Donald Trump doesn't fear dissenting views. Only your team does."[129]
Grenell's appointment was controversial at the university.[why?][133]Kiron Skinner,the founding director of the Institute for Politics and Strategy,defended the hiring decision on the basis of academic freedom and diversity of thought.[131][132] The university issued a report on Grenell's hiring,titled Report on the Appointment of Richard Grenell to the Carnegie Mellon University Institute for Politics and Strategy.[134] The report found that Skinner had followed hiring mandates by consulting with the three deans of Dietrich College,the College of Engineering,and the School of Computer Science.[135] They also found that there had been no other "senior fellow" in the institute's history,and that no other visiting scholars in the university's history had received the title of senior fellow.[132][134] It also stated that "there are features of the hiring of Mr. Grenell which,to our knowledge,are unique in Carnegie Mellon’s experience,and for which Carnegie Mellon does not currently have policies. As such,the determination of whether appropriate policies and procedures were used cannot be answered."[134] The report's conclusion also stated that "Prof. Skinner followed the small set of existing policies and procedures in place in the hiring of Richard Grenell,and he began his position on July 1."[134]
Special presidential envoy for special missions
On December 14,2024,Trump named Grenell as his nominee for presidential envoy for special missions,a post that would be established by his confirmation.[136]
Personal life
Grenell is a registered Republican.[137] He has a longtime partner,Matt Lashey.[35] He identifies as Christian.[138][139]
Daniel Ray Coats is an American politician,attorney,and diplomat. From 2017 to 2019,he served as the Director of National Intelligence in the Trump administration. A member of the Republican Party,he served as a United States Senator from Indiana from 1989 to 1999 and again from 2011 to 2017. He was the United States Ambassador to Germany from 2001 to 2005,and a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1981 to 1989. Coats served on the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence while in the U.S. Senate.
The director of national intelligence (DNI) is a senior cabinet-level United States government official,required by the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 to serve as executive head of the United States Intelligence Community (IC) and to direct and oversee the National Intelligence Program (NIP). All 18 IC agencies,including the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA),the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and the National Security Agency (NSA),report directly to the DNI.
Hashim Thaçi is a Kosovar Albanian politician who was the president of Kosovo from April 2016 until his resignation on 5 November 2020 to face a war crimes tribunal on charges of crimes against humanity. He was the first prime minister of Kosovo and the Foreign minister and deputy prime minister in the new cabinet led by Isa Mustafa,which assumed office on 08 December 2014.
Joseph Maguire is an American officer who served as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center and Acting Director of National Intelligence under President Donald Trump. He retired from the United States Navy as a vice admiral in 2010 after 36 years of military service. Prior to retiring from active duty,he was the deputy director for strategic operational planning at National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC).
The National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC) leads national counterintelligence (CI) for the United States government. It is part of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).
The United States officially recognized Kosovo as a country on February 18,2008,one day after the Kosovar declaration of independence from Serbia. Since then,the two countries have maintained relations,with Kosovo considering the United States one of its most important allies. Kosovo has dedicated several monuments to American politicians deemed instrumental to the nation's independence,especially Bill Clinton. Most Kosovars consistently approve of the United States government,often posting the highest percentages in polls among European nations.
Robert Charles O'Brien Jr. is an American attorney who served as the twenty-seventh United States national security advisor from 2019 to 2021. He was the fourth and final person to hold the position during the First presidency of Donald Trump. He is currently the chairman of the American Global Strategies firm advising companies on international politics,the U.S. government,and crisis management.
John Lee Ratcliffe is an American politician and attorney who served as the director of national intelligence from 2020 to 2021. He previously served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 4th district from 2015 to 2020. During his time in Congress,Ratcliffe was regarded as one of the most conservative members. Ratcliffe also served as mayor of Heath,Texas,from 2004 to 2012 and acting United States attorney for the Eastern District of Texas from May 2007 to April 2008.
LGBTQ+ conservatism in the United States is a social and political ideology within the LGBTQ+ community that largely aligns with the American conservative movement. LGBTQ+ conservatism is generally more moderate on social issues than social conservatism,instead emphasizing values associated with fiscal conservatism,libertarian conservatism,and neoconservatism.
Susan M. Gordon served as Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence until August 15,2019. Prior to assuming that role,she was the Deputy Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA),having assumed the position on January 1,2015. Before joining the NGA,she served as director of the Central Intelligence Agency's Information Operations Center and senior cyber adviser to the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Gordon worked for the CIA for over 25 years.
State decorations of the Republic of Kosovo are regulated by the Law on Decorations. Decorations are divided into three grades:orders,medals and commemorative medals. The President also bestows the title of Honorary Ambassador of Kosovo to people who have made extraordinary contributions to the Republic of Kosovo. This is an honour bestowed very rarely with only nine recipients in the history of the Republic.
Ana Brnabić is a Serbian politician serving as president of the National Assembly of Serbia since 2024. A member of the Serbian Progressive Party,she previously served as prime minister of Serbia from 2017 to 2024. She was the first woman,first openly gay,and longest-serving person to hold the office of Prime Minister.
The 2022 United States Senate election in Connecticut was held on November 8,2022,to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Connecticut.
Michael Kevin Atkinson is an American attorney. He worked for the United States Department of Justice for approximately 15 years,before becoming the second Inspector General of the Intelligence Community. He assumed office on May 17,2018.
Shelby Pierson is the top election security official of the American intelligence community,the chair of the Election Executive and Leadership Board. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats instituted the position and appointed Pierson to fill it in July 2019. The board includes representatives from the intelligence community and other federal agencies coordinating on election security.
Andrew Paul Hallman is an American intelligence official who served as acting Principal Executive in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence from October 2019 to February 2020. He previously served in the CIA as head of digital innovation.
Neil Wiley is an American intelligence official and military veteran who served as Principal Executive in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) performing the duties of Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence from May 13,2020 until February 2021.
Jeffrey A. Kruse is a United States Air Force lieutenant general who has served as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency since February 2,2024. He served as director of intelligence of the United States Indo-Pacific Command from July 2016 to July 2019,and was Director for Defense Intelligence of the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Intelligence) from July 2019 to August 2020.
The Kosovo and Serbia economic normalization agreements,informally known as the Washington Agreement,are a pair of documents in which Kosovo and Serbia agreed to facilitate economic normalization among themselves. The documents were signed by the Prime Minister of Kosovo Avdullah Hoti and the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučićon September 4,2020,at the White House,in the presence of the President of the United States Donald Trump.
↑ "Acting Director of National Intelligence". Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Retrieved February 26, 2020. The Honorable Richard A. Grenell assumed the role of Acting Director of National Intelligence (DNI) on Feb. 20, 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
