Trump's US ambassadors to Rome upend characteristically low-profile approach to their posts

Being a U.S. ambassador is usually a low-profile role. But President Donald Trump’s two main ambassador picks in Rome apparently didn’t get the memo.

Billionaire Tilman Fertitta, considered the “world’s richest restaurateur” and owner of the Houston Rockets NBA team, earned headlines following his arrival in May by commuting to work via helicopter from Boardwalk, a 250-foot yacht anchored in the Mediterranean. 

Fertitta reportedly said he was “displeased” with the state of the 15th-Century Villa Taverna, in which U.S. ambassadors to Italy have lived since 1933.

And Brian Burch, the conservative Catholic activist Trump appointed as ambassador to the Holy See, was so critical of then-Pope Francis's 2023 blessings of same-sex couples that Francis reportedly considered vetoing the appointment. 

(Francis, who died in April, eventually decided against the move). Burch also accused the Vatican of being partisan in “marginalizing” conservative U.S. Catholic leaders.

Neither Fertitta nor Burch has any significant background in international diplomacy.

“It’s clear that President Trump isn’t shy about picking the ambassadors he wants, even if they are controversial and even if they have no diplomatic experience,” Riccardo Puglisi, an Italian economist and frequent commentator, told Just the News. “The focus seems to be on promoting Trump’s agenda, especially around trade.”

Fertitta, an Italian-American, is also the U.S. ambassador to San Marino, a small microstate within Italian territory about 200 miles north of Rome. In one of his first statements after being confirmed as ambassador, Fertitta said he would look to “close the gap” in the United States' $43 billion trade deficit with Italy, in part by pushing Italy to work with U.S. energy companies.

The U.S. has no relevant economic relationship with the Vatican City, which is the world’s smallest country both in terms of size and population. But Burch said he was eager to build on the two nations’ “shared commitments to religious freedom, human dignity, global peace, and justice.”

Both ambassadors have attracted unusual amounts of attention in the Italian media. Corriere della Sera, Italy’s largest newspaper, worried that the 68-year-old Fertitta’s lack of diplomatic experience was part of a trend that showed a lack of importance for international affairs from the Trump White House, while the Milan-based Il Giornale was one of many publications to lampoon the yacht-to-Rome commute.

For their part, Vatican watchers have said that the 49-year-old Burch’s appointment could signal a difficult period for U.S.-Vatican relations.

“The ambassadors have attracted a lot of attention at the start,” Puglisi said. “There’s a Latin phrase called ‘ne quid nimis’ – nothing in excess. It’s something they might want to keep in mind.”

It’s still early, but signs now suggest a more traditional turn for both ambassadors.

Renovations at Villa Taverna are now complete, and Fertitta formally moved into the residence in July. A former board member of Houston’s Museum of Fine Arts, Fertitta even hosted an exhibit of American art there as part of July 4 festivities.

Burch, too, has softened his rhetoric since the election of Pope Leo XIV in May. Like Burch, the new pontiff hails from Chicago, and while Leo’s views on some divisive issues remain unclear, Burch praised him during his Senate confirmation hearings in August, going as far as saying that the role of two Chicago natives at the Vatican may have been inspired by God.

But there may be more. Trump has nominated businesswoman Lynda Blanchard, a one-time Senate and gubernatorial candidate in Alabama, to be the U.S. ambassador to the three United Nations food agencies in Rome. Blanchard, who was ambassador to Slovenia during Trump’s first term, is still awaiting confirmation by the Senate.