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| Richard Grenell |
Following his replacement as the U.S. government's intelligence coordinator, Richard Grenell also reportedly wants to resign as ambassador to Berlin. According to information from the German Press Agency, the 53-year-old will be stepping down within the next few weeks - well before the presidential election in the United States on November 3. Robin Quinville, who has been the emissary at the embassy and thus deputy to Grenell, is expected to temporarily take over his official duties.
Grenell was surprisingly called to Washington by US President Donald Trump in February to temporarily take over the post of secret service coordinator. The background was that the former coordinator Joseph Maguire had fallen out of favor with Trump and resigned, so a quick interim solution had to be found. Now, however, a new, permanent coordinator for the 17 secret services has been found: Congressman John Ratcliffe was confirmed by the Senate last Thursday and is now to be sworn in next Tuesday.
A three-month term in Grenell ends. It comes as no surprise that he now wants to give up his job as an ambassador. Grenell had still declared in February that he wanted to remain ambassador. Two weeks later, the US online magazine The Daily Wire reported that Grenell had informed the White House of his intention to resign. At that time, however, there was no official confirmation either from the White House or from the embassy in Berlin.
Even now, the US agency says nothing about Grenell's future plans. After Ratcliffe's confirmation on Friday, he merely stated that the ambassador had also represented government policy with regard to Germany during his time as a secret service coordinator.
Grenell is also the White House Special Envoy for the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia.