The Envoy. Mastering the Art of Diplomacy With Trump and the World , Gordon Sondland (2022 Bombardier Books), 272 Pages.
Theodore Roosevelt once praised the “man in an arena”, who endures defeats and continues to fight for public policy. Gordon Sondland, a hotelier and businessman, wanted to be in the arena so much that he paid a million dollars to receive his place as a financial contribution for President Trump’s inauguration. In summer 2018, Ambassador Sondland, who had just been confirmed, was flying to Brussels to be Trump’s top representative to the European Union.
Sondland’s new book the Envoy, Mastering The Art of Diplomacy With Trump and the World is a witty memoir. It not only recounts his 18-month journey in government but also tells of his life, including his mistakes and foibles. Sondland is plainspoken and easy-going, sharing stories about his encounters with Trump, as well as the experiences of many senior officials. He also makes valuable policy recommendations, including how Washington can retool its rusty U.S.E.U. transatlantic alliance.
Full disclosure: While we weren’t close, I was a member of Sondland’s senior staff at U.S. Mission in the E.U. and I witnessed firsthand how the ambassador orchestrated his unique diplomacy. This book provides a good description of my observations in Brussels.
Naturally, the author wants to share his story about Ukraine and the impeachment drama that ensued. Sondland does not regret going to Kiev. However, many Americans might be curious about the Ukraine story. Ukraine was a country that commanded more attention from the United States than it was legitimately entitled to, even before the Russian invasion. Dodgy facts surrounding the impeachment in 2019 are yet another indication that our country could benefit from more foreign policy skepticism.
Sondland tried desperately to arrange a meeting with Trump and the Ukrainian President Zelensky. However, the president was not interested and even disinterested in the Ukrainian morass. Sondland joined Innocents Abroad to try and find their way through Ukraine’s corruption and flimflam. This would reward Hunter Biden and burn Rudy Giuliani (at least until a new Congress begins an investigation).
The Envoy is an incredibly candid book. However, after recounting the story about the “Three Amigos” in Ukraine, the author shies away from giving a true explanation of why he agreed testifying before Congress. Ambassador Sondland, a Trump partisan, was drawn into a heated political battle. However, he lied to Congress about the advice of his lawyers to answer a Congressional subpoena.
Others in high-ranking administration positions were also caught up in the same situation, including Energy Secretary Rick Perry. On the advice of their lawyers they declined to take part in what was, in fact, a partisan effort by Trump to discredit him. The White House actually attempted to block Sondland’s testimony which is not what the author can say.
Sondland writes instead about letting the truth out. But Adam Schiff’s Congressional hearing was all politics and the ambassador knew that. The reader will conclude that Trump wanted the spotlight that testifying would bring, even though there are no details about what Sondland and Trump discussed. Sondland mentions his un-reimbursed legal expenses ($1.8 million). He believes Secretary Mike Pompeo promised to pay the State Department, but he never paid. He seems to have been surprised that Trump fired him after the impeachment.
Sondland is not known for his harsh criticisms of administration rivals, but he was not shy about naming John Bolton (“extremely secure,” controlled by “ego and “hubris”), Alexander Vindman (Deep State”), Fiona Hill (“Deep State”), and Alexander Vindman (“Deep State” and “hatchet Job”) as well as Fiona Hill (“a whiner” who couldn’t “negotiate her own way out of a bag”
Sondland’s criticism of Trump is not surprising. His execution was terrible.” But Sondland-a Bush Republican before joining the administration–holds a grudging respect for Trump’s aspirations to put relations with Europe on a transactional footing. Sondland says that Trump was the first president to really take Europe to task regarding what countries owe them.
The book’s main benefit is not its retelling of Ukraine’s impeachment but the fact that Sondland sheds light on his efforts against the U.S.–E.U. outdated practices. Relationship in which Washington accommodates Europe’s needs instead of adapting to new security and trade realities.
Sondland convincingly argues that, across a range issues underpinning the transatlantic alliance from defense-burden share to market access imbalances to energy policy and regulation to data privacy regulation, Europhile U.S. policiesmakers have too often given in to their European counterparts. We treat the E.U. The author says that they treat the E.U. as if they had some childlike innocence, but in reality the French and Germans, and other people, are wicked smart, manipulative, and self-interested.”
Trump didn’t give Sondland much consideration, but the ambassador proved to be a great fit for the Trump administration. portfolio. Sondland, a brash diplomat, was always looking to make a splash. He took on a variety of diplomatic portfolios while happily defending European officials who were skeptical or hostile.
Sondland had to use his thick skin and large ego to engage with a city of Eurocrats that were more anti-Trumpist than their counterparts back at home. E.U. E.U.
To give you some background, the U.S. has three ambassadors in Brussels. One to NATO (both NATO as the E.U.). They are based in Brussels. The E.U. has been around since 1995. The E.U. has been, for better and worse, a supra-state for 27 European nations, with major continental powers jockeying for influence to shape Europe’s complex priorities.
The U.S. ambassador in Brussels is unlike any other diplomatic post in Europe. The daunting task of representing America’s interests in Brussels is a difficult one. There lobbying is more opaque and multifaceted than in Washington. Sondland seemed unsure of what prize the E.U. was offering in spite of his desire to be a U.S. Ambassador. He was even willing to take Luxembourg! He was a fast learner and determined to change policy.
Ambassador Sondland was approachable and friendly and quickly gained a reputation for being a strong U.S. representative. Although it was difficult to win friends, Sondland managed to maintain a good reputation as a Trump envoy and a great admirer for Europe. He is the son of German-speaking Jewish immigrants who lived on the continent before World War II.
The author makes the convincing argument that political appointee Ambassadors are the most effective advocates for any administration looking to expand its efforts abroad. Sondland’s dedication to Trump’s European approach was unmatched by any career Foreign Service Officer.
Sign up today
Receive weekly emails to your inbox
Sondland encouraged reluctant U.S. career diplomats not to do the same, but while he was skeptical about the State Department’s bureaucratic methods (he especially scorned cable writing), staff were treated fairly and he was sometimes even generous, such as paying for an embassy coffee shop from his own pocket. While he did have a mischievous delight in resolving stale diplomatic practices, his efforts were aimed at moving an agenda forward. He was not afraid to challenge business-as usual.
Sondland, for example, convinced Trump to end the State Department’s long-standing plans of building a huge and costly new Mission compound in the far outskirts Brussels. He went beyond protocol to bring together senior European and Trump officials (with mixed results, but impressive effort). Instead of a small U.S. day celebration, he organized a huge celebration which brought Jay Leno and his Vegas monologues to Brussels.
Leno’s humor was lost in translation and Sondland’s unwise courtship with Ukrainian President Zelensky (also comedian and present at the event) began. The celebration would ultimately all crash and result in Trump’s first impeachment. The U.S.-E.U. core mission should have been the ambassador’s focus. As his true mission, modernizing the transatlantic alliance, is still not accomplished, the ambassador should have stayed focused on his U.S.-E.U. portfolio.
