p, Ukraine, Iran Behind Closed Doors Former EU Ambassador Tells All in New Book. //

The Abraham Agreements advancing peace and stability in the Middle East was President Donald Trump’s greatest foreign-policy achievement, according to Gordon Sondland who was Ambassador to the European Union under Trump.

Sondland states that the strategy behind Abraham Accords was to stop doing the same thing and expect a new result.

The Abraham Accords are the formal name for agreements to normalize relationships between Israel and its Arab neighbours, which includes the United Arab Emirates and Morocco, and later Sudan and Morocco. It is considered a historic victory in favor of peace in the Middle East.

Sondland’s new book, the Envoy: Mastering Diplomacy with Trump & the World“, discusses Trump’s most notable diplomatic moves and how it was to work with him behind closed doors.

Sondland joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” for a discussion about his book and his relationship to the former president.

Listen to the podcast below, or read the lightly edited transcript.

Virginia Allen:We have Ambassador Gordon Sondland, a former ambassador to Europe under President Donald Trump. Ambassador, welcome to our show.

Gordon Sondland Good Morning. Thank you for having me.

Allen: Your new book, “The Envoy: Mastering Diplomacy With Trump and the World”, is now available. It is a memoir. You talk a lot about your childhood and your career. You often mention that you were born from humble beginnings. What does that mean?

Sondland I’m very proud of this. My parents were Holocaust survivors. They were separated seven years ago because of necessity. My mother fled to Uruguay to escape the war and never looked back. My father met my daughter for the first-time when she was 7.

They immigrated to America. They were very poor. I was raised in a wealthy area, but I was born in what I would describe as a lower-middle-class household. Ironically, the area where we settled was rich but also had very little wealth. It made me very restless and envious, and motivated me to achieve my own success.

Allen: That’s exactly what you did. It was fascinating to see that you have similarities with Trump and that both of you were involved in the hotel business during your early careers. What brought you to this line of work?

SondlandI was in the commercial real-estate business and then one thing led another and a hotel was up for sale. I had no idea about hotels and sold the hotel to myself. I formed a partnership, found investors, and the venture was launched beyond my career as a manager of a private real-estate fund that now has other types. This is what I do in “The Envoy.”

Allen: It’s fascinating to see the career path you took. How did you meet Trump for the first time and get to know him better?

Sondland I mention in the book that I met him in New Orleans in 1988, when George H. W. Bush was announcing his candidacy for president. He had just purchased the Plaza hotel in New Orleans with my group. He was having problems with Westin, who was managing the Plaza at the time. We were having problems with Westin, who was running our hotel.

I went to his house to exchange notes and see if there was anything that we could work together to deal with Westin. He completely blew me away. He was very dismissive. He was very dismissive. The next night, I was sitting in the hotel lounge with three other people when he came in. He knew all the people and was so kind.

When we reengaged in 2016, I reminded him about that. I reminded him of that when we reengaged in 2016. You were with important people.”

Allen: He’s at least honest, right?

Sondland: Exactly.

Allen: How did you get that position as Ambassador to the EU under Trump’s leadership? How did it all happen?

Sondland One of the things that “The Envoy” does, is it walks people through what happens when someone receives an ambassadorship. It is often portrayed as a simple, slick process in which big donors send checks and then get an ambassadorship. It does happen occasionally, but it is not the norm.

The rule is that people join a party, such as the Democratic, Republican Party. They work for many candidates over years, not just federal candidates but also state candidates and local candidates. They are known by the party establishment. They make a difference. They drive candidates around. They host fundraisers. They bundle.

It can take years, sometimes decades, to become well-known to the party establishment. This is so that when a president of your party is elected, the group that advises him knows who you are and what you have done. You must also do something for the candidate.

There is a selection process, which is not always related to how much money. In my case, I donated $1 million to the inaugural committee. I had previously raised a lot for the Trump campaign. However, the $1 million check paid me a ticket to inauguration. It was a very, very nice ticket for my friends and family.

There were also 50-60 other people who bought tickets at this level. Only myself and one other person were granted an ambassadorship, I believe. If an ambassadorship cost $1 million, then there would have been 55 other people who were very disappointed.

Allen: Tell us a bit about the experience of stepping into this role. Particularly, how it was to work under President Trump and what it was like behind closed doors.

Sondland I can tell you that being an ambassador for the United States to any post under any president was an unforgettable experience.

One of the reasons I was motivated to do this job was that I had met many people whose careers and backgrounds I admired, who were also privileged to serve as presidents of both the Democratic and Republican parties. They said to me that being a U.S. Ambassador was the most exciting and fulfilling thing they had ever done in their lives. These are people who have had a successful life. It was a great compliment and made me even more eager to do the job.

You will never understand the importance of the job or the extent to which you can contribute as the highest-ranking federal official. You are the federal government, no matter if you’re working in a country or an organization. All agencies, whether they’re the Defense Department or the Agriculture Department or the Commerce Department, report to you, and not to Washington.

You are the highest-ranking federal official. You are the representative of the president of the United States. It allows you to take the president’s agenda and move it forward, whoever that may be. You can do a lot if you know the right levers to pull.

Allen

Sondland One of the stories in “The Envoy”, and there are many more, is that we were waiting in a White House room for a foreign leader. This particular foreign leader was someone I knew and I was working on the file because of various reasons. It was one of the EU member countries. If you can imagine it, the room was full of staff who were standing against the wall.

We were waiting for the motorcade to arrive in the middle of the room. The president and me were making small talk. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box of Tic Tacs. He then took the Tic Tacs and ate them. He returned the box to his pocket and looked at my face.

I looked at him and said, “WTF!” He replied, “What?” I then said, “What?” I asked him, “Aren’t you going to share our Tic Tacs?” He said, “Oh, okay, OK.” This was all he had ever thought of. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the Tic Tics, which he then placed in my hands. It was one of those moments where it was all about him. It’s always about him, so I affectionately say that.

Allen: That is so funny. Thank you so much for sharing that.

I would like to speak briefly, but mainly, about the topic. I know that you were part of many important discussions and decisions about American foreign policy during your time as EU ambassador. I’ll get to the details in a moment but first, let me give you a broad overview of Trump’s foreign policy approach. Did you agree with it?

Sondland His approach was not only unconventional but also counterintuitive. He was a contrarian in every sense.

He didn’t view foreign policy as a form of, “We all love one another.” Let’s embrace. Let’s hug, kiss, and discuss our shared values.” He knew that was the case. He knew who an ally and who an enemy were. He was more transactional than any president prior to his presidency.

He would be willing to cut to the chase and tell our closest friends, “Look, We Love You.” We know that you love us. There are some things that need to be changed in our relationship. This is the adjustment that I’m looking to make.”

They were not used to being spoken to that way, as everyone wanted to kick the can down. Trump’s strategy wasn’t to kick the can down. It was to grab the can, hold it up to the other side, and say, “What are you going to do about that can?”

This was initially very offensive to some. But I noticed that they were beginning to appreciate his candor. He didn’t waste anyone’s time. He meant what he said. He meant what he said. It made my job much easier in many ways.

Allen: How did that look in relation to the EU? What role did you play in making sure that Trump’s priorities in America’s relationship was being prioritised with the EU?

Sondland The argument I make in “The Envoy”, and this is part Trump’s foreign strategy, is that we are wasting an enormous advantage in dealing with the EU.

If we choose an issue or area in which we can reach agreement within the EU on that particular issue, and there is no daylight between us and it, the power of our combined block (800 million people) and the power our joint economic might are unstoppable.

It makes the Russians and the Chinese, the Iranians, and the North Koreans very nervous to see that the U.S., EU, and other countries are totally aligned on a specific issue, especially if it is directed at them.

Instead of leveraging this benefit, we sometimes quarrel over things that are absolutely absurd.

Agriculture people disagree about which meat is better and which tomatoes contain GMOs. Safety people are arguing about seat belts in cars. Are the American or German seat belts better? Both data retention and privacy are important.

However, the time and bandwidth they consume, as well as many, many many other issues, doesn’t even come close in bringing them to the same level of importance that picking big issues and working together. Trump has made this clear.

You can see that the Biden administration works with the EU in the dark, which is what you can see today and hopefully will continue on Ukraine. This creates a very powerful momentum.

Allen: If you were to be the EU ambassador right now, how would you advise [President Joe] Biden about America’s involvement in the war in Ukraine. How would you encourage the EU leaders to engage with Ukraine?

Sondland What I would do is spend a lot of time with each EU country, along with our ambassador and the bilateral ambassador based there, to persuade them, especially those that are not supportive of Ukraine, to increase their support. If necessary, I would also figure out what the United States could do to help those countries.

Because President Biden and President Ursula von der Leyen (European Commission President Ursula] von der Leyen) speak about Ukraine when they speak. It’s crucial that they speak with one voice, and not equivocally. I hope my successor, who is very capable, will do that and has been allowed.

Concerning the Biden administration, this is where I diverge from my more conservative Republican friends. I am a conservative Republican. I have always been a conservative Republican and will continue to be. However, there is some isolationist talk in the Republican Party right now, which I believe is very, very dangerous.

The invasion of Ukraine is a warning sign for Europe and we must stop it before it escalates. Push it back, and exterminate Russians from Ukraine who don’t belong there.

Allen: Of course, Ukraine is a topic that we have to discuss, but Russia is a topic we must also address. You supported Trump’s decision to pull America out of the Iran agreement in 2018. Why? Is there anything you think the Biden administration could learn from Trump’s administration in relation to Iran’s foreign policy?

Sondland: Yes. One of the arguments in “The Envoy”, is pivot and be flexibil.

I know there were members of Biden’s administration with good intentions who were the authors, fathers, mothers, or whatever you want to call them of the JCPOA. This is the Iran agreement, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

It was a failure. Iran’s conduct is the reason it was a failure. It had provisions that were not there, and they couldn’t get them at the time. But that’s just the beginning.

The strategy of President Trump with Iran was simple. You must stop them from spending any money. They are unable to carry out all the evil activities they do all around the globe. It will anger their population and hopefully bring them to justice. They can accomplish a lot with money. They can do very little with less money. This was Trump’s strategy.

The Europeans tried to get around our sanctions by creating a bartering system. I went on a bit of a rampage around Europe after learning about this.

I spoke to foreign leaders, CEOs of companies and basically said that you can do business both with Iran and the United States. But they can’t do business either way, so I got their attention. In each case, they did 10x, 100x, 1000x more business with us than with Iran.

Allen: Sure. Allen: Yes.

Sondland I believe his greatest foreign policy achievement was the Abraham Accords. Unfortunately, it is not well covered in the media. If it is reported by the media, the slant will be that it’s an anti Palestinian pact.

The strategy behind the Abraham Accords was, I believe, that you can’t continue doing the same thing and expect a completely different result. Over the past four decades, Israel has tried to make peace in many different ways with the Palestinians. Trump believed that the Palestinians weren’t in the peace business and that they were in grievance business.

He was able to convince other moderate Arab countries that this was the case and that it was time for them to make an offer to the Palestinians. After the moderate Arab countries realized that the Palestinians were not going to accept a yes answer, they were able to move forward with their negotiations with Israel.

Although the Arab accords are still very young, the ink has barely dried on them, they already show incredible signs of business, cultural and political partnership between many Arab countries in Israel.

Allen: In your book, “The Envoy”, you speak a lot about your relationship with President Trump and also about the fact that your testimony was required during the impeachment trial. If you’d like, share your current relationship with Trump. Are you all still in touch with each other? Trump fired you because of your decision to testify. Are there any hard feelings?

Sondland: No. I mean, I was speaking with Trump in the White House last week and I said to him that I needed to testify. They have asked me to come in. They sent a subpoena.” I said, “Go ahead. Tell the truth.” I will tell the truth.”

I was served with a subpoena. My legal team stated that I had no basis to ignore the subpoena unless the White House decides not to go to court to try to get a court to stop you from testifying. The White House didn’t do this and they weren’t willing to. I had to honor the subpoena.

I wasn’t there to help President Trump. I wasn’t there for President Trump to hurt. I just wanted to get out and get back to work. Some of my words were probably helpful. Some of my statements were probably not helpful. It was still the truth, and I won’t change it.

Allen – You packed so many into “The Envoy.” What can readers learn from it?

Sondland I hope that the readers take some things away. No. 1. Trump is a complex person. You have to see him as a package. You can’t pick and choose: “Well, I like Trump except for X,Y,and Z. I wish he wouldn’t do that.” You can either say, “I wish he wouldn’t do that” or, “I’m out.” The good and the bad.

I explain why I resigned if I wasn’t fired. Jan. 6 was a significant red line for me, and I go through that analysis. Although I didn’t agree with every word he said or did or every policy he implemented, I was generally supportive for his administration.

Another thing I want people take away from the book is that anything is possible in America. A Holocaust survivor’s son can run a successful business and become the United States ambassador to Europe.

Then, I talk about the big stuff. I often use the phrase “small changes” and emphasize that we should focus on small changes when there are great opportunities ahead. I also talk about this.

“The Envoy” is something I refer to as a bit of a b—-beach read. It’s not a textbook about the EU. It is not a textbook about foreign policy. It’s a quick, fun read that you can take to the beach or by the fire.

Allen: “The Envoy”: Mastering Diplomacy with Trump, the World” is now available. Ambassador Gordon Sondland: Thank you so much. We are grateful for your participation.

Sondland Thank You so Much for Having Me.

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