Trump to nominate Richard Grenell as German ambassador, would be administration's 1st openly LGBT ambassador

Richard Grenell served as the U.S. spokesman at the United Nations.

ByABC News

September 2, 2017, 4:56 AM

FILE - In this Dec. 12, 2016, file photo, Richard Grenell, left, arrives at Trump Tower in New York. Grenell, who served as the spokesman for the U.S. at the United Nations under former President George W. Bush, is considered a top choice to be nominated as the United States' ambassador to Germany.
AP Photo/Richard Drew, File

 -- President Trump announced on Friday that he intends to nominate Richard Grenell, the longest-serving United States spokesman at the United Nations, to be the ambassador to Germany.

If Grenell is confirmed, he would be the first openly LGBT ambassador for Trump, according to The Associated Press.

Grenell held his U.N. spokesman position from 2001 to 2008, serving under four U.S. ambassadors during former President George W. Bush's administration.

Grenell founded the international consulting firm Capitol Media Partners in 2010, and he has served as "the primary communications adviser for public officials at the local, state, Federal, and international levels, as well as for a Fortune 200 ranked company," according to a White House statement. He also regularly appears on Fox News Channel as a foreign affairs commentator.

In June 2013, Grenell revealed that he had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma and had started chemotherapy. A few months later he announced that he was in remission.

Because of his cancer diagnosis, Grenell co-developed the app chemoWave, which tracks patients' moods, conditions and symptoms from chemotherapy.

Grenell earned a Bachelor of Arts from Evangel University in Springfield, Missouri, and a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.