FROM NPR: There has been another shakeup tonight with President Trump’s national security team. The president tweeted this evening that he’s replacing his acting director of national intelligence with another official who will also serve in an acting capacity. The man who’s been in the job since last August, Joseph Maguire, is out. And Richard Grenell, who’s been the U.S. ambassador to Germany, is in.
Richard Grenell has been the ambassador to Germany for the past couple years. Much of his career, he was an adviser to Republicans, Republican politicians or Republican operatives. His other diplomatic experience was – he served as a spokesman for the U.S. to the United Nations during a George W. Bush presidency. But he’s best known, really, as sort of this Trump loyalist and for being not the most diplomatic of diplomats. He very vociferously called for more NATO spending when he was in Europe, sort of angering some of the European partners. He’s been a critic of European countries who use the Chinese telecom Huawei, so he hasn’t shied away from sort of poking European countries when he served as an ambassador to Germany.
Here’s where the story gets interesting…
“Trump Names Richard Grenell as Acting Head of Intelligence,” said the New York Times.
The once-great newspaper had nothing good to say about Grennell in its fiercely biased piece.
President Trump on Wednesday named Richard Grenell, the ambassador to Germany who quickly antagonized the establishment after arriving in Berlin in 2018, to be the acting director of national intelligence overseeing the nation’s 17 spy agencies.
By choosing Mr. Grenell, who has little experience in intelligence or in running a large bureaucracy, the president signaled that he wants a trusted, aggressive leader atop an intelligence community that he has long viewed with suspicion and at times gone to war against.
Way down in the ninth paragraph, The Times wrote this: “Mr. Grenell, who has pushed to advance gay rights in his current post, is also thought to be the first openly gay cabinet member.”
“Thought to be”? Doesn’t the New York Times have any reporters anymore?
Grennell is the first openly gay Cabinet member, period. Fact. And not even a hard fact to confirm.
The Washington Post also buried the historic news, and then didn’t even get it right. “Grennell would be the first openly gay member of the Trump Cabinet.” Uh, that would make him the first openly gay member of ANY Cabinet.
But Log Cabin Republicans, the nation’s largest Republican organization dedicated to representing LGBT conservatives and allies, was pleased with the appointment, noting its significance.
“We’re excited that @realDonaldTrump has appointed the first openly gay presidential cabinet member. @RichardGrenell is totally qualified and we’re exciting that he’ll be making history,” the group wrote on Twitter.
Just imagine the MSM’s swoon if Barack Obama had appointed the first openly gay Cabinet member.
But he didn’t. Trump did.