Ex-ambassador

This is Trump’s man for the “hottest hotspots”

During his time as US ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell repeatedly criticized the then German Chancellor Angela Merkel.(Bild: APA/Getty Images via AFP/GETTY IMAGES/CHIP SOMODEVILLA)

The former US ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, is to become US President-elect Donald Trump's envoy for special missions. "Ric will be working on some of the world's hottest hot spots, including Venezuela and North Korea," Trump wrote on Saturday on the online platform Truth Social, which he co-founded.

"Ric will continue to fight for peace through strength" and will always put America first, Trump continued in his post. Grenell was also repeatedly discussed as a possible Secretary of State under the next Trump administration. However, this nomination then went to Marco Rubio, a senator from Florida.

During his time in Berlin, where Trump sent him in 2018 during his first term as president, Grenell was not sparing in his criticism of then Chancellor Angela Merkel and Germany. This was primarily about Germany's financial contribution to the NATO defense alliance. Even afterwards, the now 58-year-old repeatedly lashed out against Germany.

When the Foreign Office took aim at a statement made by Trump in a TV duel during the election campaign on Platform X, Grenell called the post election interference.

Archive image from 2018: German Chancellor Angela Merkel receives Richard Grenell in the government guest house at Schloss Meseberg.(Bild: APA/AFP/Tobias SCHWARZ)

Truth-Social chief becomes chairman of the Intelligence Advisory Board
Another nomination was announced on Saturday. Long-time Trump ally Devin Nunes is to chair the White House Intelligence Advisory Board. The former Republican congressman currently heads the Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), the company behind the online network Truth Social, which was founded by Trump. At the beginning of Trump's first term in office, Nunes chaired the Intelligence Committee in the House of Representatives. 

As committee chairman in 2018, Nunes was involved in the investigation into possible contacts between Trump's campaign team and Russia during the 2016 US presidential election campaign. In a memo at the time, Nunes accused the US Federal Bureau of Investigation of improper methods in the Russia investigation.