Donald Trump announced his picks for a pair of coveted embassy posts on Thursday evening, with one top billionaire donor given the coveted assignment from Madrid.
He also names the officials who will direct his tax reduction plans from the Ministry of Finance.
Trump selected Benjamin Leon, 80, a Cuban-American businessman who donated about $3 million to Trump causes during the campaign, as his pick for U.S. ambassador to Spain. He is a longtime supporter of Senator Marco Rubio, Trump’s pick for secretary of state, and shares some of Rubio’s anti-Castro government views.
‘Benjamín is a very successful businessman, horse lover and philanthropist. He came to the United States from communist Cuba at the age of 16, with just $5 in his pocket, and built his company, Leon Medical Centers, into an incredible enterprise,” Trump said in a statement late Thursday announcing the selection announced.
He sold his company Clínica Asociación Cubana to United Healthcare in the 1990s and once paid $4.2 million for a racehorse, the New York Times reported.
Trump appointed another donor, Joe Popolo Jr., an investor from Texas, as ambassador to the Netherlands. He donated more than $800,000 to pro-Trump PACs and also donated to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
“For more than two decades, he helped transform the Freeman Company into the world’s largest branded live event experience company,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social site.
He also highlighted some of the accolades on his resume, a feather in the cap of Popolo who appeals to Trump, who won Time’s “Person of the Year” for the second time last month and who repeatedly claims he once won a Michigan State award has won. ‘man of the year’ award.
“Joe is the winner of the E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year Award and also a recipient of the Dallas Business Journal’s Most Admired CEO Award. He is a proud graduate of Boston College, a member of their Board of Regents, as well as a patron of the arts at the Vatican Museum,” Trump said.
They are just some of the top donors, golf buddies and loyalists that Trump is sending to embassies around the world, although the nominations must be confirmed by the Senate.
Donald Trump announced that he will appoint major donors for ambassadorial posts in Spain and the Netherlands
The day before Christmas, Trump announced he was nominating Somers Farkas, whose husband Jonathan is heir to a department store fortune, as ambassador to Malta.
“Somers is a model, philanthropist, documentary producer and highly successful businesswoman,” Trump said.
Callista Gingrich, the wife of former Speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich, is his choice to serve as US ambassador to Switzerland. She previously served as ambassador to the Vatican during Trump’s first term.
Billionaire Tilman J. Fertitta is Trump’s choice for ambassador to Italy. She owns the Houston Rockets and is CEO of a hospitality group.
Presidents traditionally allocate about a third of embassies to donors or friends, although Trump has taken the unusual step of appointing son-in-law Jared Kushner’s father Charles as ambassador to France and Donald Trump Jr.’s ex Kimberly Guilfoyle as ambassador to France . Greece.
Trump also announced several appointments at the Treasury Department, including the nomination of Ken Kies, a longtime Republican congressional tax official, to a top job at the Treasury Department. Kies, a top tax lobbyist whose clients include Microsoft and major banks.
His top aides include Samantha Schwab, the granddaughter of billionaire Charles Schwab.
She served on the staff team during the Trump transition. Schwab worked at the Office of Legislative Affairs during Trump’s first term at age 21. notification when her grandfather donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural committee in 2017.
Samantha Schwab (r), granddaughter of billionaire Charles Schwab, holds a position at the Treasury Department
“Benjamín is a highly successful businessman, horse lover and philanthropist,” Trump said as he announced he will nominate Benjamin Leon as ambassador to Spain.
She will become deputy chief of staff, reporting to Daniel Katz of the libertarian Manhattan Institute, at a time when the Trump team is considering extending Trump’s expiring tax cuts, while Democrats are calling for a reshape of their party’s economic message.
Hunter McMaster, the nephew of South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, a Trump fundraiser, is taking on a policy role. Alexandra Preate, who has done press work for former Trump economic adviser Larry Kudlow, joins as a senior adviser.