Trump Names Two Business Leaders As Ambassadors To Major US Allies

President-elect Donald Trump tapped two business leaders — Joe Popolo and Benjamin Leon Jr. — to serve as ambassadors to key European nations in a Truth Social post Thursday.

Trump nominated Popolo, founder of investment firm Charles & Potomac Capital, to serve as ambassador to the Netherlands and Leon Jr., founder of Medicare provider the LEON Medical Center, to serve as ambassador to Spain.

“Joe is a successful businessman and philanthropist across many different sectors. For over 20 years, he helped transform the Freeman Company into the World’s leading live event brand experience company,” the president-elect said of Popolo.

“He came to the U.S. from Communist Cuba at 16-years-old, with only Five Dollars in his pocket, and proceeded to build his company, Leon Medical Centers, into an incredible business,” Trump said of Leon Jr.

He added the businessman founded one of Cuba’s first Health Maintenance Organizations (HMO), Clínica Asociación Cubana HMO, which he sold to UnitedHealthCare in 1994 for $500 million, according to FloridaPolitics.com

Popolo also led the Freeman Company, which specializes in live event and trade show production. He also sat on the boards of a swath of private equity and holding firms, the president-elect said.

The nominations mark a continuation in Trump’s pattern of tapping business and community leaders for ambassadorships after they donated to his political campaigns. (RELATED: Trump Picks Leader Of Key Catholic Political Org, Father Of Nine For Vatican Ambassador)

Leon Jr. has an extensive history of donating to both Democrats and Republicans, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings. More recently, he has poured a significant sum into the president-elect coffers, donating $700,000 to Trump’s victory fund in 2020 and another $900,000 to the Trump 47 Committee in 2024.

Popolo has also donated at least $100,000 to Trump’s Save America Fund in 2024, according to FEC filings.

Other benefactors who Trump has tapped to represent the nation abroad include Houston Rockets owner Tillman Fertitta, who Trump nominated to the Italian ambassadorship, and Tom Barrack, a former Trump administration advisor, who he picked serve as ambassador to Turkey.

Both Popolo’s and Leon Jr.’s appointments will require Senate confirmation.