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SPECIAL REPORT: An @NBCNews review of those who donated to Trump inauguration finds at least 14 major contributors who were later nominees to become ambassadors, donating an average of slightly over $350,000 apiece. nbcnews.to/2YKGX0i (1/10)
While it is not unusual for a president to offer plum posts to wealthy donors, Trump admin. is nominating greater numbers of political appointees to top-level slots, and seeing a larger share stall in Senate, according to 2 diplomatic experts and a senior Senate staffer. (2/10)
Since 1950s, roughly 2/3rds of confirmed ambs. have been career foreign service officials and 1/3 have been political appointees. Of Trump admin.’s confirmed appointees, around 50% are career foreign service diplomats, and 50% are political appointees, according to AFSA. (3/10)
There are also 52 vacant ambassadorships out of about 250. Two years into their presidencies, President Obama had 11 and George W. Bush had 15. There are also a large number of vacancies in critical countries like Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. nbcnews.to/2YKGX0i (4/10)
Why the lag in confirmations for Trump nominations? R. Nicholas Burns, a former ambassador and undersec. of State, sites a slow pace of nominations, questions about nominees’ qualifications, and opposition party delay. (5/10)
"These ambassadors' financial contributions have long been a matter of public record. They are honored the President bestowed this trust upon them, and they hold their service in the highest regard,” the State Dept. says. (6/10)
Among the nominations that have languished is that of Doug Manchester, a San Diego real estate magnate, chosen for the Bahamas. He gave $1M via a trust to the inauguration. In his nomination hearing, he told senators the Bahamas was a US protectorate, which it is not. (7/10)
Asked why his nomination has stalled, Manchester said, "I don't think that the opposing party wants any Trump nominees confirmed." Of all the nominees who helped finance Trump's inauguration events, his bid has languished the longest, for close to 2 years. (8/10)
Many of the President Trump nominees who have been approved as ambassadors were early supporters of the president’s primary opponents, or were critical of him when he was a candidate. (9/10)
While 6 have seen their nominations stall, 8 others who gave to the Trump inaugural fund have become ambassadors. They contributed more than $3M combined to the inaugural cmte., some flowing through trusts and LLCs. nbcnews.to/2YKGX0i (10/10) #NBCNewsThreads #NBConPolicy
