Zelenskyy explained, “I told him that if he gave us the weapons we need and stopped supporting Putin, we would let him build Trump-branded hotels and other Trump-branded buildings in Ukraine’s ten largest cities, as well as Trump golf courses in the countryside. He was quite excited.”   read more

An island nation whose survival is threatened by global warming sent its top diplomat to Washington even as the U.S. government seems overrun with climate science deniers. Jumeau, while urging the U.S. to support the Kyoto Protocol after Pres. George W. Bush refused, said, “The US is obviously the biggest polluter of all. To them, maybe we don't figure in the grand scheme of things, maybe we don't have clout...so people think we can be ignored ... but our whole country will disappear one day.”   read more

Mulhall was awarded his first ambassadorship--in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia--from 2001 to 2005, as well as being ambassador to Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. His service coincided with the Boxing Day Tsunami of 2004, which killed more than 230,000 people. From 2009 to 2013, he was ambassador to Germany, after which he was ambassador to the UK. While in Britain, he spoke regularly on political, literary and historical topics at universities and literary festivals all over the country.   read more

In 1997, Edmunds worked as a consultant for a year before joining Caribbean-Central American Action, a private economic development organization. He started as director of marketing and business development and worked his way up to executive director and CEO in 2008. Since 2009, he has run his own consulting firm, Edmunds Group International, which advises corporations and governments on doing business in the Caribbean region. He remained with his consultancy until taking the Washington post.   read more

As Russia became more aggressive to its neighbors, Lepik, as Estonia's ambassador to NATO, urged that NATO troops be stationed in the Baltic states as a tripwire to a Russian attack. Indeed, an Estonian military base was converted into a NATO air surveillance base. There was concern from some in the region about President Trump’s close relations with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Lepik said he was glad that Vice President Mike Pence made a stop in Estonia this past summer.   read more

An entrepreneur with no previous diplomatic experience, Espina once worked as a real estate investor and was involved in the fashion industry. He later founded Guatemala Prospera, whose goal is to instill moral and cultural values in Guatemalans, based on the teachings of American evangelical pastor John Maxwell. Espina is close to many Republicans, such as Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Those ties are seen in Guatemala as a major reason for Espina’s appointment.   read more

Gutieriez was dean and a member of the Board of Governors of Sacred Heart College, then became manager of marketing, logistics, corporate communication and business development for the oil company, Belize Natural Energy. In 2016 he took his first ambassadorial post, serving as his country’s representative to Caricom, the Caribbean Community, headquartered in Georgetown, Guyana. In addition, Gutierez served as executive director of Belize’s Economic Development Council.   read more

Trump is placing yet another multimillionaire in a position of power by naming Powell—whose $112 million net worth makes him the richest person at the Fed—to serve as the next chair of the Federal Reserve. Trump’s cabinet—which includes two billionaires and 11 multimillionaires—is the wealthiest in history, so Powell should fit right in. In 2011, Powell focused on persuading Congress to raise the federal debt ceiling at the same time that Trump was publicly pushing in the opposite direction.   read more

Danies served as management officer and chargé d’affaires in Belize, during and after Hurricane Mitch in 1998, when he used his authority to declare a disaster in order to allow U.S. aid to begin flowing. From 2011 to 2014, Danies served as deputy Haiti special coordinator, helping his native land recover from the devastating earthquake of January 2010. In that role, Danies sometimes found himself in awkward positions trying to explain American policies that were unpopular among Haitians.   read more

Trump announced Azar’s nomination on Twitter, saying he would: “be a star for better healthcare and lower drug prices.” Actually, Azar has resisted drug-price controls. During his tenure as a senior VP at drug giant Eli Lilly, the company increased the price of its insulin product, Humalog, by 345%. “This is a slap in the face to millions of Americans who are waiting on [the President] to take action to lower drug prices," said Rep. Elijah Cummings of the nomination.   read more

Under Verma’s “Healthy Indiana Plan,” healthcare in the state has gone from bad to worse. In 2006, it was the 33rd healthiest state in a ranking by American Public Health Association and the United Health Foundation. By 2015, Indiana had fallen to 41st nationwide, The Washington Post reported. Verma has also consulted on similar plans for Michigan, Tennessee and Iowa. Her Indiana Plan removed people from Medicaid if they failed to contribute to a health savings account.   read more

Vrooman served as deputy political counselor at the U.S. mission to the United Nations from 2000 to 2005, and was an advisor on the Middle East. He then served three straight postings concerned with that region: as deputy political counselor at the embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel (circa 2006 to 2008); at the embassy in Baghdad, Iraq (circa 2008 to 2009); and as director for Iraq on the staff of the National Security Council (circa 2009 to 2011).   read more

In 1991, Beach was named president of the Institute of Humane Studies, which is funded by the Koch brothers, supporters of right-wing institutions. In 1995, Beach moved to the similarly oriented Heritage Foundation, where he co-authored a paper that promoted abandoning the Social Security system in favor of putting money into the financial markets. In the midst of the Great Recession that began under George W. Bush, Beach urged that unemployment benefits be cut.   read more

Bernstein claims to speak only “basic Spanish.” But she is a founding member of President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club, which apparently qualified her to be the U.S. representative to the Dominican Republic. A former Democrat, Bernstein worked to persuade Democratic-leaning Jewish voters to support the GOP. She is a longtime friend of Trump's and handles insurance for some of his interests. Bernstein was a 2016 Trump delegate and one of his Florida electors in the Electoral College.   read more

Among Mugno's duties as safety VP for FedEx's Ground unit was serving as “brain coach” and “den mother” for FedEx drivers in National Truck Driving Championship competitions. Industry groups welcomed his appointment to OSHA, who has represented American Trucking Associations at Congressional hearings, believing he'll continue the Trump administration’s drive to weaken worker-protection regulations put in place under Obama. Mugno is an enthusiastic Trump supporter who attended his inauguration.   read more

Braithwaite’s Naval Reserve duties included serving at NAS Willow Grove (Pennsylvania) in its combat camera unit; deploying to Iraq in 2003 in a naval support role; and becoming commander of the Joint Public Affairs Support Element-Reserve in October 2004. In this role, he was deployed to Pakistan to assist with relief efforts for a major 2005 earthquake. Braithwaite retired from the Naval Reserve in 2011. In 2016 he served on Trump’s Defense Department transition team.   read more

As government relations manager for ASRC, Sweeney supported oil drilling along the Coastal plain in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. In 2010, as ASRC vice-president of external affairs, as part of her pro-oil drilling stance, she opposed the designation of a large portion of the North Slope as a critical habitat in order to protect polar bears. In 2015, she told The New York Times that the Arctic “is not a pristine snow globe that deserves to be tucked away and preserved.”   read more