Amb. Grenell: United States, Germany 'Totally on Same Side'

U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell that despite some tough talk and issues between President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the two nations are "totally on the same side," particularly following the use of the president's negotiating skills

"I wish every American could see the way Donald Trump negotiates," Grenell told Fox News' "Fox & Friends."

"I have waited a long time to work for a president who is focused on the American people. He is a great negotiator and Angela Merkel realizes that."

Grenell, 51, was confirmed in April and sworn in last Thursday. He has the distinction of being the longest serving U.S. spokesman at the United Nations, after having been appointed by President George W. Bush in 2001 and serving through 2008. He also worked with Trump National Security Adviser John Bolton when he was a U.N. ambassador.

Trump praised Grenell through Twitter shortly after the appearance:

He said Monday that he told Vice President Mike Pence that anyone who has ever worked at the United Nations knows that the United States and Germany are on the same page, as "we have a lot of the same shared values, human rights, liberty, democracy."

After their tough negotiations, Trump took Merkel through the personal residence at the White House for a tour.

"She had never seen the upstairs," including the Lincoln Bedroom, said Merkel.

Meanwhile, there still 127 other nominees waiting for Congressional approval, and Grenell said the United States needs a Senate that does its job quickly.

"All these individuals deserve a vote," he said. "The president won. If you don't give someone a vote you are undermining democracy. He won. Have you got to get over it and give the president his nominees."

That includes the nomination of Acting CIA Director Gina Haspel, said Grenell, but Democrats are holding up her approval over politics.

"She is very qualified," said Grenell. "I was just out at the CIA. They are excited to have her. They want somebody — I bucked the halls and I saw the photograph of the CIA directors.

“They are all white males and now we have a woman who is going to be able to look at the CIA in a very different way. This is something that the Democrats have told us that they celebrate. I would like to see them give a chance to give a vote and confirm her."

Meanwhile, Grenell will be in Germany on May 12, the deadline for Trump to make his decision on whether to remain in the nuclear deal with Iran. He told Fox News that the deal does need to be fixed.

"It needs to be better and [have] different policies," the new ambassador said. "Whether you call it fixing it or getting out of it, I'm going to leave it to the Washington folks who do this to figure out what we call it and where we go."

However, the deal is unacceptable, Grenell stressed.

"We're not able to go on military bases anytime, anywhere that's fundamental, because Iranians have lied and put programs on military bases," he said.

"I said in the Security Council, the reasonable why there were sanctions on Iranians because we gave the evidence to the Security Council, the Russians and the Chinese back then said, 'yeah, they are lying. Let's put sanctions on them.'"

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