NIKKI HALEY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE/UN: “President Donald Trump is now seriously considering Richard Grenell, the controversial U.S. ambassador to Germany, to replace Nikki Haley at the United Nations, according to three people familiar with the matter. Trump initially seemed to rule out choosing Grenell for the job, telling reporters he’d prefer to keep him in Germany. ‘Ric is doing so well that I wouldn’t want to move him,’ the president told reporters last week shortly after Haley announced her plans to step down by the end of the year. But in recent days, several of Trump’s closest advisers have put forward Grenell’s name again, pointing to his seven-year stint as the United States’ U.N. spokesman. Grenell visited the White House earlier this month, according to two administration officials. (Grenell also tweeted a photo of himself in the Oval Office with Trump on Oct. 3.) At a separate White House meeting on Wednesday [10-17-18], several members of the president’s national security team mentioned Grenell’s name when asked to recommend their favored candidates for the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. position, two other administration officials said.”
–Andrew Restuccia, “Trump considering Richard Grenell for U.N. ambassador,” Politico, October 18, 2018 10:05 pm