Trump keeps picking ambassadors with no experience but lots of cash

Trump insisted that because he was rich and could finance his own presidential campaign he couldn’t be swayed by wealthy donors seeking influence in the “swamp” of Washington, D.C.

But a new report found the exact opposite to be true, at least when it comes to the Foreign Service.

According to the report, published by Axios and based on data from Marquette University Law School’s Ryan M. Scoville, the ambassadors Trump has appointed have given more money to his political campaign than any other president in recent history.

And, on top of that, the crop of ambassadors he’s nominated have the fewest qualifications for the diplomatic jobs they were appointed to.

Trump’s ambassadors gave an average of $96,900 to his presidential campaign, according to Axios. That’s far, far higher than the average $11,000 contribution that ambassadors under former President Barack Obama donated to Obama’s campaigns.

And of Trump’s ambassadors, 58.6 percent were foreign service officers before their appointments, as opposed to the 72.9 percent who were FSOs before Obama nominated them, according to Axios’ report.

Even worse, just 41.4 percent had experience in the region Trump appointed them to be ambassadors in, as opposed to the 65.1 percent who had experience in their regions under Obama.

Among the highest rollers in Trump’s ambassador corps is Robert Kohorst, the U.S. ambassador to Croatia, who gave a cool $1.25 million to Trump’s campaign and affiliated super PACs.

Robert Wood Johnson, the scion to the Johson & Johnson pharmaceutical empire and owner of the always doomed New York Jets football team, donated more than $975,000 to Trump’s campaigns and related super PACs before he was nominated and later confirmed to be ambassador to the United Kingdom.

And real estate developer Douglas Manchester, who gave $2.36 million to Trump’s campaign and affiliated super PACs, was nominated ambassador to the Bahamas, where he owns property. But his nomination has been held up.

Trump’s crop of rich ambassadors with little experience is proof that the “swamp” is anything but drained.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.