When President Donald Trump’s pick for ambassador to the Bahamas testified before Congress to make the case for his nomination, he incorrectly stated that the island nation was part of the U.S. It is an independent country.
For ambassador to the United Arab Emirates — a job so sensitive in the tense Middle East that every previous president gave it to a career diplomat — Trump picked a wealthy real estate developer with no diplomatic experience.
The ambassador to Morocco? A well-heeled car dealer. The nominee for Iceland? While well-traveled, he had never been to that Nordic country. For Melania Trump’s native country of Slovenia? The founder of an evangelical charity who frequently reposted false far-right social media posts on her Facebook page.
None have diplomatic experience, but they share one trait: All were big donors to Trump’s presidential inaugural committee, which is now under federal investigation.
An NBC News review of those who donated to the Trump inauguration found at least 14 major contributors to its inaugural fund who were later nominees to become ambassadors, donating an average of slightly over $350,000 apiece. …
There are … 52 vacant ambassadorships out of about 250. Two years into their presidencies, Obama had 11 and Bush had 15. There are also a large number of vacancies in critical countries like Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. …
Marquette University law professor Ryan Scoville, who is about to publish a study analyzing the qualifications of nearly 2,000 ambassador nominees from the Reagan era onward, was less equivocal. “Trump’s picks are less qualified than prior presidents’,” said Scoville, though Trump is continuing a downward trend in which “the level of qualification has eroded while the amount of contribution to candidates has risen.” …
Among the nominations that have languished is that of Doug Manchester, a San Diego real estate magnate, chosen to go to the Bahamas. He gave $1 million via a trust to the inauguration. In his nomination hearing, he told senators the Bahamas was a U.S. protectorate. The Bahamas was once a British possession but has been an independent nation since 1972. While it lies just off the Florida coast, it has never been a U.S. territory.
When asked why he said the Bahamas was a U.S. protectorate, Manchester told NBC News, “I was incorrect in that statement.” …
John Blanchard, a Montgomery, Alabama, real estate magnate, donated $553,500 to Trump’s inauguration fund under the name Joe D. Blanchard. He and his wife, Lynda “Lindy” Blanchard, have given more than $2.6 million to Republicans since 2015.
In January 2018, the Blanchards collectively donated $250,000 to the Trump Victory Political Action Committee, a joint-fundraising effort by Trump’s re-election campaign and the Republican National Committee. The couple also wrote four separate checks for $2,700 to Trump’s re-election campaign on the same day, the maximum permitted for individual contributions.
Five months later, in June 2018, Trump nominated Lynda Blanchard to become ambassador to Slovenia.
Lynda Blanchard, who founded and ran a charity called the 100X Development Foundation, dedicated to helping children and the poor, was an early Trump supporter who often shared stories on her Facebook wall that praised the future president.
"May God our Father paint this country Red with the Blood of Jesus!" she posted on Election Day 2016.
Many articles she shared on her Facebook page in 2016 were from now-defunct sites that peddled false stories about Democratic politicians. She shared a link to an article titled, “The Clinton ‘Body Count’ EXPANDS – 5 Mysterious DEATHS in the Last 6 Weeks,” pushing a baseless decades-old conspiracy theory that alleges Bill and Hillary Clinton murdered former friends and enemies. …
Another posting that stalled is ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, a sensitive job that every previous president assigned to a career diplomat since the formation of the UAE nearly 50 years ago. Trump nominated John Rakolta, who has no diplomatic experience. Rakolta is the chairman and chief executive of Walbridge Aldinger Co., a large Detroit-based engineering and construction company. He donated $250,000 to the president’s inauguration. …
Also pending is the nomination for David T. Fischer to represent the U.S. in Morocco. Fischer is the chairman and CEO of the Suburban Collection, which operates car dealerships in Michigan, Florida and California. He was nominated in December 2017. Fischer has contributed heavily to Republicans in the past, but according to public records his $250,000 to the Trump inaugural committee was his first contribution to Trump or any pro-Trump group. Fischer declined to comment about his stalled nomination.
Donald Tapia is a big Republican donor in Arizona and the former chairman of Essco Wholesale Electric Inc., a seller of electrical products. In May 2018, Tapia was nominated as the ambassador to Jamaica. He donated $100,000 to the inauguration, as well as over $100,000 to the Trump Victory PAC.
Jeffrey R. Gunter gave $100,000 to the Trump Victory PAC and $100,000 to the Trump Inaugural Committee. Gunter, a Los Angeles-based dermatologist, served on the Trump transition team’s finance committee.
Testifying before the Foreign Relations Committee on why he should represent the U.S. in Iceland, he said he had never been there but had traveled extensively in Western Europe, and said his work running a medical practice prepared him to be an ambassador.
The nominations for Blanchard, Tapia and Gunter are slated for a committee vote on Wednesday, April 3.
While six have seen their nominations stall, eight others who gave to the inaugural fund have become ambassadors. They contributed more than $3 million combined to the inaugural committee, some flowing through trusts and LLCs.
Trump appointed one of his bankruptcy lawyers to become ambassador to Israel. David Melech Friedman was a partner at the New York law firm Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman and did legal work for Trump’s troubled Atlantic City casino ventures. The law firm donated $300,000 to Trump’s inauguration.
The Trump administration’s ambassador to the United Kingdom is Robert “Woody” Johnson IV, owner of the New York Jets football team, who donated $1 million to the inaugural eight months before he was nominated to the diplomatic post. The U.S. ambassador to the U.K. is typically a political appointee with business ties. …
George Glass was an early Jeb Bush supporter, but as the 2016 Republican primary tightened, the Oregon real estate developer converted. In 2016, Glass gave $5,400 to the Trump campaign and sent another $77,500 to Trump Victory. In December 2016, Glass gave $22,500 for Trump’s inauguration. Six months later, Trump nominated Glass to the post of ambassador to Portugal.
On social media, Glass follows almost everyone who follows him. The result is that the ambassador follows dozens of accounts dedicated to pushing the QAnon conspiracy theory, which falsely maintains Trump is in a secret war against the “Deep State” and a cabal of Satan-worshipping Democrats who run a child sex cult. Glass is also a prolific “liker,” who has “liked” tweets from QAnon fan accounts and other incendiary tweets from far-right figures, including Bill Mitchell and Candace Owens. …
Oregon hotelier Gordon Sondland … donated a total of $1 million to the inauguration through four different LLCs. …
He’s now the ambassador to the European Union.
Kelly Knight Craft, Trump’s ambassador to Canada, is now the president’s pick to become U.N. ambassador. Previously she was a U.N. alternate delegate for President George W. Bush. Her husband, coal-mining executive Joe Craft, donated $1 million to the inauguration through JWC REV Trust.
As ambassador to Canada, Craft attracted controversy when, during an interview with the CBC, she was asked whether she believes in climate change, and responded, “I believe there are scientists on both sides that are accurate.”
Craft’s nomination to become U.N. ambassador is pending before the Senate.
Carla Sands, a former chiropractor and an actress on the soap opera “The Bold and the Beautiful,” is ambassador to Denmark. Sands has supported Republicans, gave $100,000 to the inaugural committee, and held a high-priced fundraiser for Trump at her mansion. She also gave $5,400 to Donald J. Trump for President, Inc., and $250,000 to Trump Victory.
Jamie McCourt, ambassador to France and former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, has supported both GOP and Democratic candidates. She gave $50,800 to Trump’s inaugural committee and $349,000 to Trump Victory.
William Robert Kohorst, a real estate developer, donated $250,000 to Trump’s inauguration and another $194,000 to Trump Victory. He was nominated to be ambassador to Croatia in September 2017 and assumed his post in January 2018. …