Richard Grenell has become the new US ambassador to Germany after the US Senate confirmed his nomination. The confirmation comes a day before Chancellor Angela Merkel's visit to the White House.
Image: Imago/ZUMA Press
Advertisement
The United States Senate voted 56-42 to confirm Richard Grenell, largely along party lines, to become the US ambassador to Germany.
Grenell, 51, worked as the US spokesperson at the United Nations from 2001-2008, serving four ambassadors — including John Bolton, now US President Donald Trump's national security adviser.
The United States, whose embassy is near the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, has not had an ambassador since John Emerson left the post in January 2017. Grenell's confirmation comes on the eve of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's visit to the White House.
A longtime commentator on conservative broadcaster Fox News, Grenell was an early supporter of Trump's foreign policy.
Drawn-out process
Grenell became the first openly gay ambassador nominated by Trump when the US president put his nomination forward in September. But Grenell's nomination was delayed for months as opposition Democrats criticized his conservative positions.
The former UN spokesman has been strongly critical of the Iran nuclear deal, which Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron have called on Trump not to abandon. He, like the US president, is very active on Twitter, and he has pinned a tweet on his Twitter profile criticizing the Paris Climate Agreement.
During Grenell's confirmation hearing, Senate Democrats cited his history of making statements insulting to women politicians, both on the internet and during his television appearances.
"Will he insult, via his Twitter account, the female chancellor of Germany? I don't know. I hope not," Senator Robert Menendez, a top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, said in a speech opposing Grenell.
During his confirmation hearing, Grenell claimed he was trying to be funny, not insulting, and would not have made such statements while serving as a US official.
Donald Trump on Germany: Top quotes
The US president has offered praise and dished out criticism of Germany. Whether describing the chancellor as "the greatest" or claiming Berlin owes "vast sums of money" to the US, here are his most memorable quotes.
Image: picture-alliance/NurPhoto/C. May
The good, the bad and the ugly
US President Donald Trump has offered both candid praise and unabashed criticism of Germany and its policies. From calling German Chancellor Angela Merkel "possibly the greatest world leader" to describing her open-door refugee policy as a "catastrophic mistake," here are his most memorable quotes regarding Germany.
Image: picture-alliance/NurPhoto/C. May
'Greatest'
"Germany's like sitting back silent, collecting money and making a fortune with probably the greatest leader in the world today, Merkel," Trump said in a 2015 interview with US news magazine Time.
Image: Picture alliance/AP Photo/M. Schreiber
'Very bad'
"The Germans are bad, very bad ... Look at the millions of cars they sell in the US. Terrible. We'll stop that," Trump said during a NATO leaders summit, according to German news magazine Der Spiegel, which cited sources at the alliance's meeting.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/AP/E. Vucci
'Something in common'
"As far as wiretapping, I guess, by - you know - [the Obama] administration, at least we have something in common, perhaps," Trump said in March during a press conference with Merkel. He was referring to his unproven allegations that ex-President Barack Obama tapped his phone. There was widespread anger in Germany in 2013 when it was revealed the US National Security Agency tapped Merkel's phone.
Image: Picture alliance/R. Sachs/CNP
'Illegals'
"I think she made one very catastrophic mistake and that was taking all of these illegals (sic), you know taking all of the people from wherever they come from," Trump said in a joint interview published by German daily Bild and British newspaper The Times, referring to Merkel's open-door policy for refugees fleeing war and persecution.
Image: Getty Images/S. Gallup
'Germany owes vast sums of money'
"Despite what you have heard from the fake news, I had a great meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Nevertheless, Germany owes vast sums of money to NATO and the United States must be paid more for the powerful, and very expensive, defense it provides to Germany," Trump said in a two-tweet statement after meeting with Merkel for the first time in March 2017.
Image: Picture alliance/dpa/L. Mirgeler
'Turning their backs'
"The people of Germany are turning against their leadership as migration is rocking the already tenuous Berlin coalition," Trump tweeted in the midst of a row within the German goverment. He went on to claim that: "Crime in Germany is way up. Big mistake made all over Europe in allowing millions of people in who have so strongly and violently changed their culture!"