Donald Trump to name businessman Joe Popolo as next ambassador to the Netherlands
Donald Trump plans to appoint investor Joe Popolo as the next U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands, the president-elect said on his Truth Social platform on Friday. The U.S. Senate will have to confirm the businessman’s appointment if Trump moves forward with the nomination after taking office on January 20.
“Joe is a successful businessman and philanthropist across many different sectors,” Trump wrote. “Joe is an E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year Award winner, and also a recipient of the Dallas Business Journal’s Most Admired CEO Award,” he continued. “Congratulations Joe!”
Popolo currently leads venture capital and private equity firm Charles & Potomac Capital, which he founded after leading live events business Freeman Company for about 12 years. He has a finance degree from Boston College, and graduated with distinction when he obtained his MBA from the University of Chicago in 1997.
Trump’s choice during his first term in office, Congressman Pete Hoekstra, was a controversial decision. Prior to his nomination, he made wild claims in 2015 that there were neighborhoods in the Netherlands that had become “no-go” zones due to violent behavior by Muslim youths.
“The Islamic movement has now gotten to a point where they have put Europe into chaos, chaos in the Netherlands, there are cars being burned, there are politicians that are being burned,” Hoekstra said. Once he arrived as ambassador in 2018, he initially declined to comment at a press conference described as disastrous by some attendees. He eventually walked back his claim that the quotes were “fake news,” and acknowledged his statements were wrong.
Hoekstra is expected to be Trump’s nominee as the U.S. Ambassador to Canada.
Once confirmed by the Senate, Popolo will replace Shefali Razdan Duggal. She was nominated by Joe Biden, and arrived in the Netherlands in 2022 to represent the president there.
