United States President-elect Donald Trump said on Saturday that he has selected his former intelligence chief Richard Grenell as the president's special envoy, a post where he is expected to help the incoming administration deal with several of the most difficult challenges of foreign policy.
"Ric will be working on some of the hottest hot spots in the world, 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 would also focus on tensions in the Balkans.
Grenell responded on Platform X, writing, "Working on behalf of the American people for Donald Trump is the greatest honor of my life. President Trump is someone who solves problems, keeping Americans safe and prosperous. We have a lot 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, as well as acting Director of National Intelligence.
He has long been one of Mr. Trump's foreign policy advisers. After campaigning heavily for Mr. Trump in the Nov. 5 election, Mr. Grenell was a leading contender for 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 Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg for that job.
He was present when Mr Trump met 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's membership, saying — like Mr. Trump — that the alliance should not expand until current members meet the alliance's defense spending targets. Members of the transatlantic alliance have pledged for years to spend 2% of their Gross Domestic Product on defense, but some countries have yet to reach this target.
Mr. Grenell campaigned heavily for Mr. Trump with Arab-American voters in Michigan, where the president-elect managed to win a traditionally Democratic electorate despite his past ban on immigration from some 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 adversaries of the US, 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 re-election 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 broke off relations in 2019.
Reuters reports that in 2020, Mr. Grenell secretly met with a representative of Maduro in an effort to secure the Venezuelan leader's peaceful exit from power after his 2018 re-election was deemed rigged by most Western countries, but was not achieved. any agreement.
Republican US Senator Bill Hagerty expressed support for Mr Grenell, saying at Platform X that he would "do a great job tackling some of the world's toughest challenges"./ Voice of America (A2 Televizion)
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