Back ريتشارد غرينيل Arabic ريتشارد جرينيل ARZ ریچارد قرینل AZB Richard Grenell Catalan Richard Grenell German Richard Grenell Esperanto Richard Grenell Spanish ریچارد گرینل Persian Richard Grenell Finnish Richard Grenell French
Richard Grenell | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2020 | |
| Special Presidential Envoy for Special Missions | |
| Assumed office January 20, 2025 | |
| President | Donald Trump |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| President of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts | |
| Assumed office February 12, 2025 | |
| Preceded by | Deborah Rutter |
| Special Presidential Envoy for Serbia and Kosovo Peace Negotiations | |
| In office October 4, 2019 – January 20, 2021 | |
| President | Donald Trump |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished |
| United States Ambassador to Germany | |
| In office May 8, 2018 – June 1, 2020 | |
| President | Donald Trump |
| Preceded by | John B. Emerson |
| Succeeded by | Amy Gutmann |
| Acting Director of National Intelligence | |
| In office February 20, 2020 – May 26, 2020 | |
| President | Donald Trump |
| Deputy | Andrew P. Hallman (acting) Kash Patel Neil Wiley (acting) |
| Preceded by | Joseph Maguire (acting) |
| Succeeded by | John Ratcliffe |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 18, 1966 Jenison, Michigan, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Domestic partner | Matt Lashey |
| Education | Evangel University (BA) Harvard University (MPA) |
Richard Allen Grenell[1][2] (born September 18, 1966) is an American diplomat, public official, and former public relations consultant. He served as acting director of national intelligence (DNI) under President Donald Trump in 2020, becoming the first openly gay Cabinet member in U.S. history.[3] A member of the Republican Party, Grenell served as the United States ambassador to Germany from 2018 to 2020 and as the special presidential envoy for Serbia and Kosovo peace negotiations from 2019 to 2021.
Grenell was a U.S. State Department spokesperson to the United Nations during the George W. Bush administration. Following his State Department tenure, he formed Capitol Media Partners, a political consultancy; he also was a Fox News contributor. Grenell was a foreign policy spokesperson for Mitt Romney during his 2012 presidential campaign.[4]
In September 2017, Trump nominated Grenell as the U.S. ambassador to Germany. On April 26, 2018, he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate by a vote of 56 to 42.[5] Grenell presented his credentials to the president of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, on May 8, 2018. His tenure in Germany was controversial; he was described as politically and diplomatically isolated due to his association with the far right, and he was criticized as displaying a lack of professionalism.[6][7][8]
Trump named Grenell acting director of national intelligence in February 2020; he relinquished the role in May 2020 upon the confirmation of John Ratcliffe to the post. Grenell expressed interest in running in the 2021 California gubernatorial recall election,[9] but on July 15, 2021 – the day before the filing deadline – he appeared on The Sean Hannity Show to announce that he would not run as a replacement candidate.
- ^ Tracy, Abigail (February 24, 2020). ""Ric Grenell Is Now His Guardian Against Fact": With a Sycophantic New Director, Trump's Intelligence Community Goes Orwellian". Vanity Fair. Retrieved November 7, 2024.
- ^ "U.S. Envoy to Germany Ric Grenell Confirms He's Leaving Post". Bloomberg.com. May 24, 2020. Retrieved November 7, 2024.
- ^ Citations for First openly gay Cabinet member:
- Lavietes, Matt (October 24, 2024). "No 'victim mentality' or rainbow flags: Gay Republicans rally for Trump". NBC News. Retrieved February 20, 2025.
On the few occasions LGBTQ issues were mentioned Tuesday night, speakers praised Trump's appointment of Grenell to a Cabinet position — making Grenell the first openly gay person to hold such a role — and lauded the same-sex weddings held at Trump's Palm Beach resort, Mar-a-Lago, in recent years.
- "Who might make up Trump's Cabinet". Politico. November 6, 2024. Retrieved February 20, 2025.
[Grenell]...served as acting director of national intelligence — becoming the first openly gay Cabinet secretary in U.S. history.
- Srikanth, Anagha (February 21, 2020). "Trump names the first openly gay person to a cabinet-level position". The Hill. Retrieved February 20, 2025.
Richard Grenell is the first openly gay person to hold a Cabinet-level position.
- Fox, Ben (February 21, 2020). "Trump searches for a permanent national intelligence director". PBS. Retrieved February 20, 2025.
Grenell, who is apparently the first openly gay Cabinet member in any administration,
- Thomas, Phil (February 19, 2020). "Richard Grenell: Trump appoints first openly gay cabinet member to head US intelligence". The Independent. Retrieved February 20, 2025.
Mr Grenell, formerly the US ambassador to Germany, is believed to be the first openly gay cabinet member.
- Emmrich, Stuart (December 16, 2020). "Pete Buttigieg's Nomination Is History Making in More Ways Than One". Vogue. Retrieved February 20, 2025.
Buttigieg will technically not be the first openly gay person to fill a Cabinet-level post, but the person who holds that distinction—Richard Grenell, who briefly served as Donald Trump's acting director of national intelligence—was never confirmed by the Senate.
- Lavietes, Matt (October 24, 2024). "No 'victim mentality' or rainbow flags: Gay Republicans rally for Trump". NBC News. Retrieved February 20, 2025.
- ^ Henderson, Nia-Malika; Blake, Aaron (April 24, 2012). "Mitt Romney adviser Richard Grenell faces backlash over tweets, sexual orientation". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
- ^ Blumberg, Antonia (April 26, 2018). "Senate Confirms Richard Grenell, Trump Nominee For Ambassador To Germany". Huffington Post. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Spiegelwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Duncan, Conrad (February 20, 2020). "Trump's new acting intelligence chief likened to 'far-right colonial officer'". The Independent.
- ^ "German backlash over US envoy remarks". BBC News. June 4, 2018.
- ^ Siders, David; White, Jeremy B. (February 12, 2021). "Grenell lays groundwork for California gubernatorial run". Politico PRO. Retrieved February 18, 2021.