Trump appoints Richard Grenell to his administration
President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday named former U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell to his administration. Grenell will serve as special missions envoy. “Ric will work in some of the hottest spots around the world, including Venezuela and North Korea,” Trump said on Truth Social, according to the Associated Press.
Grenell, 58, was U.S. ambassador to Germany from 2018-2020. The Trump-Pence administration later named him acting director of national intelligence, which at the time made him the highest-ranking openly gay presidential appointee in American history.
Grenell was also the previous White House’s special presidential envoy for Serbia and Kosovo peace negotiations. The Trump-Pence administration in 2019 tapped Grenell to lead an initiative that encouraged countries to decriminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations.
Grenell and then-U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Kelly Knight Craft later that year organized an event on the sidelines of a U.N.
