Expectations for Newly Appointed German and American Diplomats

Just ahead of the meeting between President Donald Trump and Chancellor Angela Merkel, both the United States and Germany confirmed core diplomatic posts.

Richard Grenell has been confirmed by the Senate as new U.S. Ambassador to Germany in a vote of 56 to 42. The post had been empty for 15 months. Under the George W. Bush administration, Grenell worked as spokesman for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, among other positions for new U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton, then Ambassador to the United Nation.

On the German side, Emily Haber will replace Peter Wittig as new German Ambassador to the United States in Washington, DC. As a career diplomat, she was appointed as State Secretary of the German Federal Foreign Office in 2011. Before her new post, Haber had been State Secretary at the German Ministry of Interior. She will be the first female German Ambassador to the United States.

GMF Visiting Fellow James D. Bindenagel, former U.S. ambassador and Henry Kissinger Professor for Governance and International Security at the University of Bonn, comments on the new appointees, their responsibilities, and tasks.