Turning Point USA

Richard A. Grenell served as United States Ambassador to Germany from 2018 to 2020, Presidential Envoy for Kosovo-Serbia Negotiations, and as Acting Director of National Intelligence in 2020.

 

Grenell started his tenure in Berlin by successfully negotiating with German businesses to sever their ties with the Islamic Regime in Iran and getting the German government to accept the return of former Nazi prison guard Jakiw Palij. He also successfully pressured the German government to increase its defense spending, ban Hezbollah in Germany, and shut down the North Korean Youth Hostel in Berlin. Grenell also focused on stopping the Nord Stream 2 Russian gas pipeline, combating anti-Semitism, and growing German companies’ investment in the U.S.

 

As Acting Director of National Intelligence, Grenell streamlined the intelligence community, implemented $19 million in budget savings, and declassified documents related to the Russian investigation that had been previously unreleased.

 

Grenell was the longest-serving U.S. Spokesman at the U.N. serving from 2001 to 2008 and advising four U.S. Ambassadors.  In 2004, he was appointed as Alternative Representative to the U.N. Security Council with full voting rights and privileges.

 

He has served as the primary communications adviser for public officials at the local, state, federal, and international levels.  In 2012, he briefly served as National Security and Foreign Affairs Spokesman for Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney, making him the first openly gay spokesman for a Republican Presidential candidate. Grenell is also the first openly gay U.S. Government Cabinet official.

 

Grenell previously taught at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School of Communications and is currently a Fellow at Carnegie Mellon University. He received his Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Management and his Bachelor’s Degree in Government and Public Administration from Evangel University.