This is part of Hello, Trumpworld, Slate’s reluctant guide to the people who will be calling the shots now—at least for as long as they last in Washington.
Richard Grenell is one of the more obscure members of Donald Trump’s inner circle, but among those who know him, he ranks among its most toxic loyalist brawlers—a high (or low) bar to clear.
Trump has named Grenell “envoy for special missions,” a newly created position that will “work in some of the hottest spots around the world, including Venezuela and North Korea,” according to a statement by the president-elect.
Grenell came to Trump’s attention the way many of his appointees have—by trolling liberals on the internet and Fox News. He was the head of a PR firm, with little public experience other than a few years as a snarky press spokesman for the U.N. mission under President George W. Bush.
Reporters and diplomats disliked him, but few on the right defended him, perhaps because he was openly gay. But Trump liked his attitude, and, in 2018, nominated him to be ambassador to Germany—where he instantly alienated political leaders, and even allies in neighboring countries, in ways that endeared him all the more to Trump.
Within hours of presenting his credentials in Berlin, Grenell publicly lambasted the German government for not spending more on defense, pressured German companies to stop doing business with Iran (though Germany was still complying with the nuclear deal, in which the West lifted sanctions against Iran and Tehran dismantled its nuclear program). He told a reporter for Breitbart News, “I absolutely want to empower other conservatives throughout Europe, other leaders”—a remark that Germany’s chancellor at the time, Angela Merkel, and her coalition partners took as a call for regime change in Berlin and as support for more right-wing parties.
According to several accounts of his two years in Berlin, Grenell never sought close contact with Germany’s political or social leaders. He also paid little attention to the reports by his own experienced staff in the U.S. Embassy, saying, “We can get that information off the internet.”
Stefan Liebich, former foreign-policy spokesman for the socialist-left party in Germany’s Parliament, recalled in an email that Grenell invited him for a friendly one-on-one meeting—something no previous U.S. ambassador had ever done—and that he then did the same with a leader in the country’s far-right party. “He considered us to be antiestablishment parties,” said Liebich (who—disclosure—happens to be the husband of Slate’s editor in chief). Grenell stopped meeting with the leaders though—and even started an internet feud with Liebich—when he realized they wouldn’t help him stir commotion. “He was opinionated and loud; he interfered in German and European politics in a way that went far beyond the norm,” Liebich said, reciting the views of dozens who dealt with him.
A former diplomat told the Atlantic at the time, “He is playing to an audience of one. Trump is what counts. No one else.” When Grenell left, all of Berlin heaved a sigh of relief. Trump called him a superstar and made him envoy to peace talks between Kosovo and Serbia. Kosovo was the U.S. ally in that fight, but Grenell demanded concessions to Serbia, helped destabilize Kosovo’s democratic government, and in the end failed to make peace anyway.
In 2020, Trump fired his national intelligence director, mainly for not disputing reports that Russia tried to influence that year’s election, and made Grenell acting director. He lasted just three months on the job, but during that time, fired many professional analysts and brought on Kash Patel to help him fire more. (Patel is now Trump’s nominee to be FBI director.)
After Trump left office, Grenell joined with the ex-president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to push development of a luxury hotel complex in Belgrade, Serbia. He also did business deals with Turkey, in some cases urging Trump—who stayed in touch, once calling Grenell “my envoy” in dealings with foreign leaders—to join him on trips.
Grenell ranks among Trump’s most extreme, and thoroughly opportunistic, loyalists. During Trump’s attempts to challenge the 2020 election, Grenell ran an operation in Arizona to prove the vote was “stolen”—though some of his aides later told the New York Times he admitted that there was no evidence to the charge, that their job was just to “throw spaghetti at the wall.”
During the run-up to the 2024 election, Grenell made it clear he wanted to be secretary of state, but Trump picked Marco Rubio. Grenell would have faced harsh questions in the Senate confirmation process hearing for, among other things, not registering as a foreign agent while doing PR work for several foreign countries.
The job he is about to take does not require Senate confirmation. The position is also so loosely defined that Trump can use him in whatever way he pleases. One of his “special missions” may be to shore up internal support for Trump’s policy preferences if some Cabinet secretary calls them into question. Grenell’s very presence in the room will send a message to the other advisers that he might replace them if they don’t support the president more fervently.
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