Donald Trump announced on Wednesday, February 19, the appointment of his current ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, to the sensitive post of acting director of national intelligence, the agency that oversees the various American intelligence services.
"I am delighted to announce that our highly respected ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, will become our acting director of National Intelligence. Rick has served our country extremely well and I look forward to working with him. "wrote the Republican President on Twitter. The appointment of Richard Grenell, a loyal supporter of Donald Trump, will have to be confirmed by the Senate to make him the permanent director of national intelligence.
The 53-year-old former spokesperson for Mitt Romney's 2012 campaign, who was openly gay, had upset many German officials with his unsympathetic stance. He notably accused Berlin "Insult" the United States because a German minister drew a parallel between spying on the United States and China.
Richard Grenell to Replace Acting Director of Intelligence Joe Maguire, whom President Trump thanked for his "Wonderful job". The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) coordinates 17 American intelligence agencies.
Donald Trump's "doggie"
Since arriving at the White House, Donald Trump has frequently ignored the advice of his former intelligence chief, Dan Coats, and has kept him out of certain files, including relations with Russia.
The latter had notably publicly disapproved of Donald Trump's decision to hold a closed-door interview with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki in July 2018. The two leaders were accompanied only by their interpreters. Mr. Coats left office in August 2019 after two years in office.
Trump had wanted to replace him with the elected Republican John Ratcliffe for a while, but had to give up in the face of the many critics who had accompanied this decision, due to the inexperience of the person concerned. Several Democrats also denounced on Wednesday evening the lack of experience in intelligence of Richard Grenell, even calling him "Doggie" from Donald Trump.
