Fired Kennedy Center boss Ric Grenell is reportedly scheming his way back into the Trump administration, but his prospective gig is vastly different from leading a premier performing arts center.
Rather, Grenell is “floating his interest” in becoming the next U.S. Ambassador to Russia, two sources close to the official tell the Daily Mail.
“He had an interest in the job—or at least he floated the idea to select colleagues,” a source told the Mail. “But Putin’s regime is extremely anti–LGBTQ, so I’m sure they didn’t take that thought too seriously. That would never happen anyway.”
Grenell, 59, is openly gay. He has reportedly negotiated with Russia to reopen the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which has been closed since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, German media reported in March 2025. The ambassadorship position in Moscow has been vacant for nearly 9 months since the Joe Biden appointee, Lynne Tracy, departed.
Sources told the Mail that the search for a new ambassador has stalled because the candidate must align with Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, who has been leading negotiations with the Russians amid the country’s war with Ukraine.
“This is a pattern, especially in the Trump administration—special envoys big–footing the ambassadors," a diplomatic source familiar with the region tells the Mail. “It is shocking that we are already in April and we don’t have an ambassador to one of the most important countries in the world.”
Reached for comment, Grenell denied the Mail’s report about him angling for the diplomatic position in Moscow. He also attacked the Daily Beast.
“It’s totally fake news and they never even asked me about it but The Daily Beast is also fake news so I’m sure you’ll just repeat the fake news,” he said in an e-mailed statement.
Grenell was the U.S. Ambassador to Germany for part of Trump’s first term. Politico reported that he has also lobbied himself for the position of Secretary of State—a role that ultimately went to former Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.
Another source told the Mail that Grenell is “just waiting for Rubio to fail so he can take that job.”
Grenell is also said to be holding out for a “top national security job” after serving as Trump’s acting Director of National Intelligence in 2020.
Some told the Mail that Grenell’s alleged lobbying for a new job is “an embarrassing look.”
Two attendees at last year’s Munich Security Conference told the tabloid that Grenell was behaving like a “commissar” at the conference’s Ukrainian luncheon, as he hovered over the actual diplomats.
