Lajme nga Bota

The challenging position that Richard Grenell will take in the Trump administration

The challenging position that Richard Grenell will take in the Trump

United States President-elect Donald Trump said Saturday he has selected his former intelligence chief, Richard Grenell, as presidential envoy for special missions, a post where he is expected to help the incoming administration tackle some of the toughest foreign policy challenges.

"Ric will be working on some of the world's hottest spots, including Venezuela and North Korea," Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social, without elaborating on the position's responsibilities.

A source from Mr. Trump's transition team told Reuters that Mr. Grenell will also focus on tensions in the Balkans.


Grenell responded on the X platform, writing: "Working on behalf of the American people for Donald Trump is the greatest honor of a lifetime. President Trump is someone who finds solutions to problems, keeping Americans safe and prosperous. We have a lot of work to do. Let's get to work."

During Mr. Trump's first term, Mr. Grenell served as ambassador to Germany, special presidential envoy for negotiations between Serbia and Kosovo, and acting Director of National Intelligence.

He has long been one of Mr. Trump's foreign policy advisers. After campaigning intensively for Mr. Trump in the Nov. 5 election, Mr. Grenell was a leading contender for the post of Secretary of State, but Mr. Trump nominated Senator Marco Rubio for that post.


He was also mentioned as a possible candidate for the position of special envoy for the war in Ukraine, but Mr. Trump ultimately chose retired Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg for that post.

He was present when Mr. Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in September. Mr. Grenell has spoken out in favor of a peace deal that would preserve Ukrainian territory but allow for “autonomous regions” where Russia could remain in control.

He has also advised against expanding NATO to include Ukraine, saying – as Mr Trump has – that the alliance should not expand until current members meet the alliance’s defence spending targets. Members of the transatlantic alliance have pledged for years to spend 2% of their gross domestic product on defence, but some countries have yet to meet that target.

Mr. Grenell campaigned intensively for Mr. Trump with Arab-American voters in Michigan, where the president-elect won in a traditionally Democratic electorate despite having previously banned immigration from several Muslim-majority countries. Mr. Grenell organized pro-Trump events with Arab-American voters.

Presidents appoint special or presidential envoys to focus on global issues, crises, or specific diplomatic efforts. North Korea and Venezuela are U.S. adversaries, although Mr. Trump is reportedly considering direct talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, hoping to minimize the risks of armed conflict.


During his presidential campaign, Trump called Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro a dictator. Mr. Maduro said Mr. Trump's reelection was "a new beginning" for bilateral relations.

In his first term, Trump imposed tougher sanctions on the South American country, particularly on its key oil industry. Maduro severed relations in 2019.

Reuters reports that in 2020, Mr. Grenell secretly met with a representative of Maduro in an attempt to ensure the Venezuelan leader's peaceful departure from power after his reelection in 2018 was considered rigged by most Western countries, but no agreement was reached.

Republican US Senator Bill Hagerty expressed support for Mr Grenell, saying on Platform X that he would "do a great job dealing with some of the world's toughest challenges".