Trump Picks Frequent Fox News Guest As Next German Ambassador

The White House announced Monday that President Trump intends to nominate retired colonel Douglas Macgregor as the next U.S. ambassador to Germany. Macgregor, an outspoken critic of military intervention in foreign countries, has criticized troop deployments in Iraq and Syria.

"Colonel Douglas Macgregor is a decorated combat veteran, author, and a consultant. Colonel Macgregor is widely recognized as an expert on force design and grand strategy," read the White House statement. "He is a frequent radio and television commentator on national security affairs and his writings on military affairs have been influential in the transformation of United States ground forces, NATO, and the Israeli Defense Force."

Macgregor is a frequent guest on Fox News, defending Trump’s move to pull troops from Syria in an appearance on the “Tucker Carlson Tonight” program. He holds a doctorate and has extensively studied East Germany’s relationship with the Soviet Union. His 1997 book “Breaking The Phalanx” lays out his views on military strategy and calls for a restructuring of the armed forces in order to deal with new threats in the 21st century.

Macgregor’s nomination will need to be voted on by the Senate, where the Republican Party holds a majority. Trump’s pick could agitate some of the more hawkish members of his own party.

The nomination comes after Trump approved a plan to withdraw 9,500 troops from Germany. The move has drawn condemnation from Berlin, and congressional lawmakers from both parties have lambasted Trump for the decision on national security grounds.

The last Trump-appointed ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, was widely discredited by German officials. His frequent defense of Trump’s “America First” policies led to one German lawmaker labeling him a “biased propaganda machine.”