Trump raises eyebrows by claiming he has sent his ‘envoy ambassador’ to Serbia

Is Donald Trump conducting shadow foreign diplomacy?

Donald Trump has been ridiculed for claiming his “envoy ambassador” Ric Grenell is helping to defuse tensions between Serbia and Kosovo.

Mr Trump released a statement on Thursday to say Mr Grenell, a former ambassador to Germany, had visited the border between the two countries on his behalf.

“The agreements my administration brokered are historic and should not be abandoned, many lives are at stake,” the statement said.

Mr Trump’s statement (Supplied)

In a statement, the White House shot down Mr Trump’s attempted diplomacy.

“Outside of his very active imagination, Donald Trump is no longer President and doesn’t have any ‘envoy ambassadors’ representing the United States.”

The statement was met with some surprise that Mr Trump appeared to be conducting a shadow foreign policy agenda.

Folks will be upset at this as Trump violating norms, undercutting U.S. foreign policy, and hypocritically doing what his administration castigated others for doing when he was POTUS.

I will instead be laughing at “envoy ambassador” and the permanent beclowning of Ric Grenell. https://t.co/WZlXi6g1V4

— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) November 11, 2021

Others thought his statement may have been confusingly worded.

“As a connoisseur of Trumptalk, I can report that Trump is not saying Grenell is his ‘envoy ambassador’, but is instead referring to “my envoy, Amb. Ric Grenell” in his own idiosyncratic way,” Washington Post reporter Philip Bump said.

This is criminal. Trump & Grenell must be held accountable & prosecuted before further harm is done to our country. https://t.co/q1R8Uh61x5

— Richard Signorelli (@richsignorelli) November 11, 2021

Mr Grenell served as the Trump administration’s ambassador to Germany from 2018 to 2020 before becoming the Special Presidential Envoy for Serbia and Kosovo Peace Negotiations.

I can find no evidence that there is any new Serbia Kosovo economic agreement.

Theory: Grenell called Trump and told him he was on Kosovo Serbia border and credited Trump with achieving something that may not exist? https://t.co/BtjDRDpSpJ pic.twitter.com/rFNNUL8d4H

— Laura Rozen (@lrozen) November 11, 2021

The position was abolished after Mr Trump lost the 2020 presidential election.

Prior to his appointments Mr Grenell was a political operative who was known for trolling opponents on Twitter.