The president-elect of the United States took advantage of Christmas Eve to announce the name of the US ambassador to Portugal. The choice fell on businessman John Arrigo, a personality he trusts and linked to the automobile sector.

Donald Trump wrote on his social network Truth about his decision and admitted that he knew the manager who would occupy the US embassy in Portugal for more than three decades.

“John is a very successful businessman in the automobile industry and a champion golfer. He has been an incredible business leader in West Palm Beach for over thirty years and is respected by everyone. I’ve known John for a long time. He will do an incredible job for our country and will always put America first,” announced the US president-elect.

John Arrigo was vice president of Arrigo Auto Group, a car sales company, until 2020, according to the social network Linkedin. Between 1982 and 1985, he attended Florida Atlantic University, and it was during his degree he joined the company Arrigo Auto, part of the Morgan Automotive Group. Arrigo Auto has dealerships in three cities in the state of Florida: West Palm Beach, where Donald Trump lives, Fort Pierce, and Tamarac.

“Arrigo Auto Group in Florida treats the needs of each individual customer with extreme concern. We know you have high expectations and, as car dealers, we relish the challenge of meeting and exceeding those standards every time. Allow us to demonstrate our commitment to excellence,” reads the official company website of the future ambassador.

In 2019, John Arrigo told The Palm Beach Post that he ran five car dealerships in South Florida together with his brother, Jim Arrigo, with around 600 employees.

Just a week ago, the US ambassador to Portugal, Randi Charno Levine, announced that she would be stepping down on January 19, 2025, on the eve of the inauguration of Republican Donald Trump and after almost three years of service.

In a farewell message posted online, Ambassador Randi Charno Levine thanked Joe Biden for the opportunity to serve her country, highlighted the main economic achievements of her term, and announced that next year, she will be an honorary professor of Art Diplomacy at the Faculty of Human Sciences of the Portuguese Catholic University.

“Serving as ambassador has been one of the greatest honors of my life and an extraordinary adventure. It was a privilege to represent the United States in Portugal – a country rich in history, culture and a long-standing friendship. Together, we have worked to strengthen the deep and enduring economic and cultural ties between our two nations,” said Randi Charno Levine.

Last year, US investment in Portugal quadrupled to 2.1 billion euros, making the world’s largest economy the biggest foreign investor in Portugal and the country’s main trading partner outside the European Union. As for tourism revenue from the other side of the Atlantic, it increased by 30% year-on-year to 2.5 billion euros on the back of the 2 million Americans who visited Portugal in 2023

In ECO

Quem é John Arrigo, o novo embaixador em Portugal escolhido por Trump

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