File picture of Richard Grenell.
| Photo Credit: AP

President-elect Donald Trump announced Saturday (December 14, 2024) that he’s picked longtime foreign policy adviser Richard Grenell to serve as an envoy for special missions, tasking him with helping the incoming administration deal with some of the toughest foreign policy challenges.

Mr. Grenell served as ambassador to Germany during Mr. Trump’s first administration, special presidential envoy for Serbia and Kosovo peace negotiations, and did a stint as acting director of national intelligence.

He was also a contender to serve as secretary of state, but Mr. Trump opted to nominate Florida Senator Marco Rubio.

“Ric will work in some of the hottest spots around the World, including Venezuela and North Korea,” Mr. Trump said in a posting on his social media platform, Truth Social, announcing the appointment.

Mr. Grenell during Mr. Trump’s first term developed a reputation for employing a sometimes contentious approach to diplomacy that rankled allies and the foreign policy establishment in Washington. But his style was appreciated by the president-elect who sees value in blunt talk with allies.

Mr. Grenell remained close to Mr. Trump after he left office in 2021, serving at times as a key adviser on foreign policy.

He was in the room when Mr. Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in September. Mr. Grenell has advocated for a peace deal that would preserve Ukraine’s territory while still allowing for “autonomous regions” where Russia could remain in control.

He’s also advised against expanding NATO to include Ukraine, saying — as Mr. Trump has — that the alliance shouldn’t grow until current members meet the alliance’s defence spending targets. Members of the transatlantic alliance have committed for years to spending 2% of their GDP on defence, but several countries still fall short of the target.

He was an early supporter of Mr. Trump’s 2024 campaign and held multiple events for the Republican nominee focused on economics and national security.

Speaking at the Republican National Convention, Mr. Grenell echoed Mr. Trump’s mantra that “it’s time to put America first” on the global stage and argued that China and Russia saw President Joe Biden’s administration as weak.

Mr. Trump raised concerns among some allies during the 2024 campaign when he said he would not defend NATO members that failed to meet defence spending targets, and warned he would “encourage” Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” to alliance countries that he considered “delinquent.”

Mr. Grenell has downplayed Mr. Trump’s criticisms of NATO and said the only talk of leaving the alliance altogether “was really from the media.”

“What we’re saying is, don’t come to the wedding without a gift,” Mr. Grenell said.

Mr. Grenell was part of the Trump campaign’s outreach to Arab American voters in Michigan, where the president-elect made gains with a traditionally Democratic constituency despite his history of banning immigration from several majority-Muslim countries. Mr. Grenell orchestrated pro-Trump events with Arab American voters, including a May meeting held in Troy, Michigan.

A U.S. spokesman at the United Nations during the George W. Bush administration, Mr. Grenell, like many other Republicans, has his own history of criticizing Mr. Trump before embracing him.

Once an adviser to GOP moderates like 2012 presidential nominee Mitt Romney and a supporter of gay marriage, Mr. Grenell, who is openly gay, deleted social media posts blasting Mr. Trump as “reckless” and “dangerous” once the former reality TV star became the Republican nominee in 2016.

Mr. Trump also announced Saturday (December 14, 2024) that he’s appointing Devin Nunes, the chief executive officer of the president-elect’s Truth Social platform, to head a presidential advisory board that will keep tabs on the U.S. intelligence community.

Mr. Nunes will continue leading Trump Media & Technology Group. Mr. Trump is the company’s largest shareholder.

The former California lawmaker chaired the House Intelligence Committee and was one of Mr. Trump’s closest allies in Congress during the president-elect’s first term.

Washington DC:

US President-elect Donald Trump said on Saturday he was picking Richard Grenell, his former intelligence chief, as presidential envoy for special missions, a post where he will likely drive policies toward some US adversaries, including North Korea.

“Ric will work in some of the hottest spots around the World, including Venezuela and North Korea,” Mr Trump said on his Truth Social media platform without further describing the duties.

A Trump transition source told Reuters that Grenell will also focus on tensions in the Balkans.

Mr Grenell served as Mr Trump’s ambassador to Germany, a special presidential envoy for Serbia and Kosovo peace negotiations, and as acting director of national intelligence during Mr Trump’s 2017-2021 term.

After campaigning for Mr Trump ahead of the Nov. 5 election, he was a top contender for secretary of state, a job that went to US Senator Marco Rubio. He was also considered for special envoy for the Ukraine war, which went to retired lieutenant general Keith Kellogg.

Mr Trump takes office next month.

Presidents name presidential and special envoys to focus on global issues, crises or specific diplomatic efforts.

North Korea and Venezuela are U.S. adversaries, though Reuters has reported that Mr Trump has considered pursuing direct talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, hoping to reduce risks of armed conflict.

What reciprocation Kim might offer Mr Trump is unclear. The North Koreans ignored four years of outreach by US President Joe Biden to start talks with no pre-conditions, and Mr Kim is emboldened by an expanded missile arsenal and a much closer relationship with Russia.

During his presidential campaign, Mr Trump called Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro a dictator. Mr Maduro said Mr Trump’s re-election was “a new start” for bilateral relations.

In his first term, Mr Trump put in place harsher sanctions on the South American country, especially on its key oil industry. Mr Maduro broke off relations in 2019.

Mr Grenell had previous interactions with Maduro associates.

Reuters reported that in 2020 Grenell secretly met with a Maduro representative to try to work out the Venezuelan leader’s peaceful exit from power after his 2018 re-election was considered a sham by most Western countries, but no agreement was reached.

Republican US Senator Bill Hagerty voiced quick support for Grenell, saying on X that he would “do a great job dealing with some of the world’s toughest challenges.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)