Gebruiker:Haaftjlv/RichardGrenell

Richard Grenell Richard Grenell official photo.jpg United States Ambassador to Germany Incumbent Assumed office May 8, 2018 President Donald Trump Preceded by John B. Emerson Personal details Born September 18, 1966 (age 53)

Political party Republican Domestic partner Matt Lashley Education Evangel University (BA) Harvard University (MPA)

Richard Allen Grenell, Jenison (Michigan), V.S., 18 September 1966 is de huidige Amerikaanse ambassadeur in Duitsland. Eerder diende hij als Amerikaanse woordvoerder onder vier ambassadeurs bij de Verenigde Naties.

Grenell served for a time as foreign policy spokesperson for Mitt Romney in his 2012 campaign for President of the United States, becoming the first openly gay spokesperson for a Republican presidential candidate.[1][2]

In September 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Grenell to be U.S. Ambassador to Germany.[3] He was confirmed by the United States Senate by a vote of 56 to 42 on April 26, 2018.[4] He presented his credentials to the President of Germany on May 8, 2018.[5] On February 19, 2020, President Trump announced his intention to install Grenell as the acting Director of National Intelligence.[6]

Contents 1 Early life and education 2 Career 2.1 United Nations (2001–2008) 2.2 2009–2017 2.3 Ambassador to Germany 2.4 Expected acting director of national intelligence appointment 3 Personal life 4 References 5 External links Early life and education Grenell graduated with a bachelor's degree in Government and Public Administration from Evangel University in Springfield, Missouri. He received a master's degree in Public Administration from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government [7]

Career Prior to his post at the UN, Grenell was a political adviser to a number of prominent Republicans, including George Pataki and Dave Camp.[8]

United Nations (2001–2008)

Grenell voting at a UN Security Council meeting in 2005 In 2001, Grenell was appointed by President George W. Bush as Director of Communications and Public Diplomacy for the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations. Serving in that role until 2008, Grenell became the longest-serving U.S. spokesman at the United Nations, advising four different U.S. Ambassadors. During his tenure, Grenell led communication strategies on such issues as the War on Terror, global peacekeeping operations, Iran and North Korea's nuclear weapons programs, and the UN Oil for Food corruption scandal.[7]

2009–2017 In 2009, Grenell founded Capitol Media Partners, an international strategic media and public affairs consultancy with offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, and Washington, D.C.[7] He was under contract with Fox News where he worked as a contributor, commenting on foreign affairs and the media.[9][10] He has written for The Wall Street Journal,[11][12] CBS News,[13][14] CNN,[15] Politico,[16] Huffington Post,[17] The Washington Times,[18] Newsmax,[19] and Al Jazeera.[20] In 2012, CNN ranked Grenell's social media outreach as one of the top 5,[21] and Time magazine named Grenell as one of the Top 10 Political Twitter Feeds of 2014.[22] In 2013, Grenell was a signatory to an amicus curiae brief submitted to the Supreme Court in support of same-sex marriage during the Hollingsworth v. Perry case.[23]

Ambassador to Germany

Grenell (left) with Berlin Governing Mayor Michael Müller in 2018 In September 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Grenell to become the United States Ambassador to Germany. After a significant delay, the Senate confirmed Grenell 56–42 on April 26, 2018.[24] He was sworn in by Vice President Mike Pence on May 7, 2018, making Grenell the highest-ranking openly gay official ever in a Republican administration.[25][26] Grenell was also under consideration for the posts of U.S. Ambassador to NATO and United States Ambassador to the United Nations.[27][28]

In May 2018, within hours of taking office in Berlin as US Ambassador, Grenell offended diplomats and business leaders when he tweeted that “German companies doing business in Iran should wind down operations immediately.”[29] 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’s just not how you can treat your allies.”[30] The leader of Germany's Social Democratic Party stated that Grenell "does appear to need some tutoring" in the "fine art of diplomacy", while the Die Linke party urged the Merkel government to summon Grenell to explain his comments.[30]

In June 2018, Grenell stirred controversy by telling Breitbart News, "I absolutely want to empower other conservatives throughout Europe, other leaders."[31] It was viewed as anti-establishment.[32][33] This was described as a breach of diplomatic protocol and a breach of Article 14 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which requires ambassadors to be politically neutral in the domestic politics of the countries where they serve.[34][31] Prominent German politicians called for Grenell's dismissal.[35][36][37][38] 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."[35]

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 made an appearance where he repeated his criticism of Angela Merkel's immigration policies and compared her unfavorably to the recently-elected Chancellor of Austria Sebastian Kurz, whom he claimed "won in a very big way" because of his strict stance on immigration. The magazine Der Spiegel called it a "thinly veiled call for a change of government in Berlin".[34]

In December 2018, during the affair surrounding Der Spiegel journalist Claas Relotius, Grenell wrote to the magazine complaining about an anti-American institutional bias ("Anti-Amerikanismus") and asked for an independent investigation.[39][40] Grenell wrote that "These fake news stories largely focus on U.S. policies and certain segments of the American people."[41]

In January 2019, Grenell told Handelsblatt that European companies participating in the construction of Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline are "always in danger, because sanctions are always possible". The Trump administration has long opposed the Russian-backed Nord Stream 2 — a pipeline for delivering natural gas from Russia to Germany.[42] Within that context he also sent letters to German companies involved in the construction of said Nord Stream 2, threatening sanctions.[43] In response, Angela Merkel's successor as leader of the Christian Democrat Union, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, stated that "The American Ambassador operates in a, shall I say, somewhat unusual diplomatic manner."[44]

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 claimed 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 is politically isolated in Berlin because of his 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.[34] The sources claimed that Grenell "knows 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."[34]

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.[45]

In March 2019, Wolfgang Kubicki, deputy chairman of the Free Democratic Party, called for Grenell to be expelled from Germany, stating, "Any U.S. diplomat who acts like a high commissioner of an occupying power must learn that our tolerance also knows its limits."[46]

Expected acting director of national intelligence appointment On February 19, 2020, it was reported that Trump is expected to pick Grenell as acting director of national intelligence. He would be the first openly gay Cabinet member.[47]

Personal life Grenell is a registered Republican.[48]

In June 2013, Grenell revealed that he had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and started chemotherapy.[49] In September 2013, Grenell announced that he was in remission.[50]

Grenell has a longtime partner, Matt Lashey.[51]