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Trump names Grenell as director of intelligence

Gay appointee would be charged with oversight of U.S. agencies

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6 years ago

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Ric Grenell, Richard Grenell, gay news, Washington Blade
U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell is expected to become acting director of national intelligence. (Photo public domain)

President Trump announced on Wednesday he has named Richard Grenell, who was the highest-ranking openly gay member of his administration, as acting director of intelligence.

The move puts Grenell — now the U.S. Ambassador to Germany — in charge of overseeing U.S. intelligence agencies and advising Trump and the national security adviser on measures related to national security.

Grenell arguably will be the most senior openly gay official of any administration in U.S. history, or the first openly gay Cabinet member, although as an appointee in an acting role, his job would technically be temporary and wouldn’t require Senate approval, so his claim to that distinction is dubious.

(UPDATE: Although Trump has a predilection for naming appointees on an “acting” basis even for permanent roles, Grenell confirmed on Thursday his appointment would, in fact, be temporary.)

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, took issue with Grenell in a statement, saying Trump’s pick lacks experience and sidesteps the confirmation process.

“The intelligence community deserves stability and an experienced individual to lead them in a time of massive national and global security challenges,” Warner said. “And at a time when the integrity and independence of the Department of Justice has been called into grave question, now more than ever our country needs a Senate-confirmed intelligence director who will provide the best intelligence and analysis, regardless of whether or not it’s expedient for the president who has appointed him.”

Angering many in Germany, Grenell has built a reputation for his combative style as a diplomat. Just this week, Grenell singled out in a series of three tweets targeted European politicians for complaining about the Trump’s administration’s approaches to NATO and the European Union.

The appointment of Grenell, a Trump loyalist, would be a change from former DNI director Dan Coats, who had a frosty relationship with Trump. 

Coats, for example, went on the record to contradict Trump after a widely panned performance in 2018 during a joint news conference with Russian Vladimir Putin. After a meeting with Putin, Trump undermined assessments Russia interfered in the 2016 election, but later recanted. Coats stepped down from the role in the months that followed.

Highly critical of the decision to name Grenell as head of intelligence was Samantha Power, who served as U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. during the Obama administration.

In his capacity as U.S. ambassador to Germany, Grenell has spearheaded an initiative to decriminalize homosexuality in the more than 70 countries around the world where it remains illegal. Earlier this year, he held an event at the United Nations on the initiative and named each of those countries, although other human rights groups in attendance were dubious about the Trump administration’s initiative.

Grenell, who had concurrently served as U.S. envoy for Serbia-Kosovo peace negotiations, is also credited with helping to negotiate with Kosovo President Hashim Thaci the first steps in the creation of a presidential commission on LGBTQ rights.

It remains to be seen what the state of the global initiative to decriminalize will be in the aftermath of Grenell’s appointment as head of U.S. intelligence.

Closely tied to Grenell is Log Cabin Republicans, which praised news Grenell would be appointed to the senior role on Twitter.

Trump reportedly has an affinity for Grenell, whose name has repeatedly come up in news reports as a possible picks for more senior roles in the administration. Grenell reportedly was on the short list for Trump’s choices as the next national security adviser and secretary of state.

UPDATE: Annise Parker, CEO of the LGBTQ Victory Institute, issued a statement Friday on Grenell’s appointment, dubbing him the highest-ranking openly LGBTQ presidential appointee in U.S. history.

“A little over sixty-five years ago, President Eisenhower signed an executive order barring LGBTQ people from serving in the federal government, resulting in the dismissal of hundreds of dedicated LGBTQ employees solely because of their sexual orientation or gender identity,” Parker said. “The ‘lavender scare’ originated in the idea that LGBTQ people were a national security risk – and that ludicrous notion persisted well into the 1990s. For an openly LGBTQ person to be appointed to the most important intelligence position in the U.S. government exemplifies how far we’ve come.”

Parker also pointed out the anti-LGBTQ policies of the Trump administration and urged Grenell to use his newfound influence to call them out.

“Acting Director Grenell has remained loyal to Trump throughout his ambassadorship, and now is the time to cash-in and use that influence to confront the administration on its anti-LGBTQ policies,” Parker said. “Representation in government is invaluable when people speak out, take on discriminatory voices and advocate for change. It takes courage – especially in an administration stocked with anti-LGBTQ activists – but we hope Grenell proves up to the challenge. If Trump believes an openly LGBTQ person can lead our national security apparatus, one would think Trump should also support that person’s right to live free of discrimination in the country he serves.”

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Rehoboth Beach

Women’s FEST returns to Rehoboth Beach next week

Golf tournament, mini-concerts, meetups planned for silver anniversary festival

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4 hours ago

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April 3, 2026

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(Washington Blade file photo by Daniel Truitt)

Women’s+ FEST 2026 will begin on Thursday, April 9 at CAMP Rehoboth Community Center.

The festival will celebrate a remarkable milestone in 2026: its silver anniversary. For 25 years, Women’s+ FEST has brought fun and entertainment for all those on the spectrum of the feminine spirit. There will be a variety of events including a golf tournament, mini-concerts and happy hour meetups.

For more information, visit Camp Rehoboth’s website.

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Belarus

Belarusian lawmakers approve bill to crackdown on LGBTQ rights

Country’s president known as ‘Europe’s last dictator’

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5 hours ago

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April 3, 2026

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(Photo by eugenef/Bigstock)

Lawmakers in Belarus on Thursday approved a bill that would allow the government to crack down on LGBTQ advocacy.

The Associated Press notes the bill would punish anyone found guilty of “propaganda of homosexual relations, gender change, refusal to have children, and pedophilia” with fines, community labor, and 15 days in jail.

The House of Representatives, the lower house of the Belarusian National Assembly, last month approved the bill. The Council of the Republic, which is the parliament’s upper chamber, passed it on Thursday.

President Alexander Lukashenko is expected to sign it.

Belarus borders Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Lukashenko — known as “Europe’s last dictator” is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Kazakhstan is among the countries that have enacted Russian-style anti-LGBTQ propaganda laws in recent years.

Vika Biran, a Belarusian LGBTQ activist, is among those arrested during anti-Lukashenko protests that took place in 2020 after he declared victory in the country’s presidential election.

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District of Columbia

How new barriers to health care coverage are hitting D.C.

Federally qualified health centers bracing for influx of newly uninsured patients

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6 hours ago

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April 3, 2026

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Erin Loubier, vice president for access and strategic initiatives at Whitman-Walker Health. (Courtesy photo)

Washington, D.C. has the second-lowest rate of people who lack health insurance in the country, but many residents are facing new barriers to health care due to provisions of the sweeping federal law passed in July, which threatens access for thousands. 

Changes to insurance eligibility and the rising cost of premiums, which kicked in for some in October and others more recently, are expected to leave many more patients uninsured or unable to afford medical care. Federally qualified health centers, including D.C.’s Whitman-Walker Health, where 10 to 12 percent of patients are uninsured, are bracing for an influx of newly uninsured patients while facing their own financial challenges. 

Even in D.C., where uninsured rates have been among the lowest in the country, changes brought on by the passage of the Republican mega bill (known as the “Big Beautiful Bill”) will have major effects. 

The changes from the bill affect Medicaid, which is free to low-income patients, and subsidies for insurance that people buy on the health insurance exchanges that were started under the Affordable Care Act, which were allowed to expire on Dec. 31. 

Erin Loubier, vice president for access and strategic initiatives at Whitman-Walker Health, says some Whitman-Walker Health patients have received notices about premium increases, including several who say the increases are up to 1,000 percent more than they were paying. 

“That is like paying rent,” she says. “We live in an expensive city, so any increases are going to be really, really hard on people.”

Whitman-Walker Health and other healthcare providers are expecting the changes to have multiple effects — some patients may not be able to afford coverage or may avoid going to the doctor and allow health conditions to worsen because they can’t afford care, and many more will be seeking care who don’t have insurance. 

“I’m worried that we’re going to not just have people who can’t get care, but that they delay care until they’re really sick, and then the care is not as effective because they might have waited too long, and then we may have a less healthy population,” Loubier says.

Loubier says delaying care, and serving more people without insurance has major implications for Whitman-Walker Health and other health centers serving the community.

“There’s going to be a lot of pressure on us to try to find and raise more money, and that’s going to be harder, because I think all organizations who provide health care are going to be facing this,” she says. 

The U.S. health care system is the most expensive in the world, and has much higher out-of-pocket costs for individuals. But in other countries like the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and many others, health care is much less expensive — or even free.

Even though the U.S. has a high-priced healthcare system, critics say there are still ways to bring down costs by forcing insurance and pharmaceutical companies to absorb more of the costs, rather than transferring the costs to patients.

“In the U.S., they end up trying to cut costs at the person’s level, not at the level of the different corporations or structures that are making a lot of money in healthcare,” said Loubier. “Our system is so complicated and there is probably waste in it, but I don’t think that that cost and waste is at the ‘people’ level. I think it’s higher up at the system level, but that is much, much harder to get people to try to make cuts at that end.”

Ultimately at Whitman-Walker Health, healthcare providers and insurance navigators are planning to help with everyday necessities when it comes to healthcare coverage and striving to provide healthcare in partnership with patients, said Loubier.

“The key here is we’re going to have a lot of people who may lose insurance, and they’re going to rely on places like Whitman-Walker Health and other community health centers, so we have to figure out how we keep providing that care,” she said. 

(This article was written by a student in the journalism program at Bard High School Early College DC. This work is part of a partnership between the Washington Blade Foundation and Youthcast Media Group, funded through the FY26 Community Development Grant from the Office of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser.)

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