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Billionaires without diplomatic experience: Wave of concerns in Europe over Trump's ambassadors
With the arrival of Donald Trump, a new wave of ambassadorial appointments has raised concerns in European capitals. They are mostly family members, close friends, wealthy donors or figures known for their loyalty to Trump but without diplomatic experience.
Charles Kushner, Jared Kushner’s father and Ivanka Trump’s father-in-law, has been ambassador to France since May. He has been convicted of tax evasion, false statements and obstruction of justice, including a high-profile case in which he hired a prostitute to compromise his brother-in-law. He spent 14 months in prison and was pardoned by Trump in 2020. As ambassador, he clashed with French authorities over “the lack of response to anti-Semitism,” and recently met with French far-right leaders Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella.
In Brussels, Andrew Puzder, former CEO of the company that manages the fast food chains Hardee's and Carl's Jr., has been appointed ambassador to the EU. He has openly supported Trump's new security strategy, saying that immigration is endangering Europe's cultural identity.
Stacey Feinberg, an entrepreneur, heiress, theater producer, and prominent Republican donor who recently called Trump "the greatest American president since George Washington," has been sent to Luxembourg.
In Italy, the ambassador is Tilman Fertitta, a billionaire with a fortune of about $10.7 billion, owner of the Houston Rockets team and more than 600 hospitality businesses. He is a longtime friend of Trump and owns a 117-meter yacht with two helipads and two swimming pools. Trump has called him "my twin."
In Denmark is Ken Howery, the co-founder of PayPal. His main task is to persuade Copenhagen to allow more American influence in Greenland, a former Danish colony that Trump has described as a “strategic necessity.” He is trying to project a friendly image, but he has continued with the American agenda, visiting Greenland in December.
In Greece, the ambassador is Kimberly Guilfoyle, the former Fox News anchor and ex-fiancée of Donald Trump Jr. She arrived in Athens in November amid media frenzy, accompanied by singer Konstantinos Argyros. Guilfoyle promised not to disappoint either the US or Greece, but caused diplomatic concern when she openly criticized Chinese influence in the port of Piraeus, crossing normal diplomatic lines. One source described her as “smart, but very direct and tactless — like Trump himself.”
Guilfoyle is also rumored to be considering rapprochement with Turkey, which worries Greek diplomats, especially after public suggestions by the US ambassador to Ankara, Tom Barrack, that an incident in the Aegean could be used to intervene and "regulate relations between the two NATO countries."
According to Trump's new security strategy, Europe is risking "civilizational extinction" from immigration, while the EU is accused of "subduing sovereignty", "censoring freedom of expression" and "suppressing political opposition". /Adapted from "The Guardian"
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