Trump Names Former US Ambassador To Germany Grenell As Special Envoy 

WASHINGTON, Dec 15 (Bernama-dpa) -- The former US ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, is set to become the envoy for special missions for  President-elect Donald Trump, reported German news agency dpa.

"Ric will work in some of the hottest spots around the World, including Venezuela and North Korea," Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social on Sunday.

"Ric will continue to fight for peace through strength, and always put AMERICA FIRST," he added.

During his time in Berlin in 2018 during Trump's first term as president, Grenell often criticised his host country and its leader, former chancellor Angela Merkel, complaining about what he said was Germany's insufficient financial contribution to the NATO defence alliance.

Even after his tenure, Grenell, 58, frequently criticised Germany. When the Foreign Office mocked a Trump statement from an election campaign TV debate on platform X, Grenell called the post election interference.

Trump loyalist Grenell had previously been considered as a potential secretary of state, but that nomination went to Florida Senator Marco Rubio.

On Saturday, Trump announced that former California Republican congressman Devin Nunes, another Trump loyalist, will head the future presidential intelligence advisory board, and also keep his current job as Truth Social's chief executive.

As chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Nunes was involved in confronting the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) over allegations that Russia helped Trump win the 2016 election. Trump has consistently rejected that, calling it the "Russia hoax".

Lengthy investigations by special counsel Robert Mueller and his team concluded that Russia did interfere in the 2016 election but they did not find that Trump or anyone in his campaign had colluded with the Russians on that.

-- BERNAMA-dpa