As president-elect Donald Trump begins to reveal his new cabinet, a fiercely right-wing diplomat – Richard (Ric) Grenell – could be in line for one of the top jobs.
Former acting director of the US National Intelligence Agency, and Trump loyalist, Ric Grenell, is many political analysts’ tip to become secretary of state.
Although nominally the head of foreign affairs, the position wields great power. In the past, the post has been filled by the likes of Cordell Hull, Condeleezza Rice, Hillary Clinton and John Kerry as well as future early presidents Thomas Jefferson, James Maddison, John Quincy Adams, James Monroe, Martin van Buren and James Buchanan.
Grenfell, who served as ambassador to Germany during Trump’s first term, would become the first out gay man to hold the powerful position. To many, he is viewed as on the extreme right-wing of the Republican Party and had been described as an “online pest” and a “national disgrace.”
His presence on social media, where he often “trolls” progressives and pushes a litany of right-wing claims, has already concerned US diplomats.
Even while outside the White House, he made several attempts to solidify relations between world leaders and Trump, including trying to broker a meeting between the former president and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, at the United Nations General Assembly last year.
Former CIA analyst Fulton Armstrong told The Guardian in April that Grenell was “cunning and effective”, and that his notoriety made him an intimidating presence for US diplomats.
“Having penetrated both the intelligence and the policy world, he knows who can be seduced, intimidated and destroyed,” Armstrong said. “Weak people at the state department are scared to p**s off the right wing because they want to be ambassadors, and fear for their careers, which makes them vulnerable.
“Someone like Grenell knows how this can be used for issues favouring Trump.”
While addressing the right-wing Conservative Political Action Conference, in Washington DC in February, Grenell said the US needed a “son of a b***h diplomat,” seemingly referring to himself.
“The success that Donald Trump had was that he avoided politics and concentrated on the economy. Part of our foreign policy, if we want to solve problems, is to avoid the political talk and figure out ways to do greater trade,” he said.
In 2021, he received the game-changer award from the Log Cabin Republicans, which describes itself as working to educate the LGBTQ+ community and the right-wing party about each other. He has a long-term partner, Matt Lashey, who held the Bible as Grenell was sworn in as German ambassador in 2018.
Grenell has also been touted as the head of the CIA or national security advisor, according to the Daily Mail.
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