Foreign Policy Expert, 20th United States Ambassador to the European Union, Chairman and CEO of Provenance Hotels, Author
Ambassador Gordon Sondland is a seasoned diplomat, entrepreneur, and author with deep expertise in U.S.-EU relations, global trade, and national security. As the former U.S. Ambassador to the EU, he played a key role in major geopolitical events, including support for Ukraine and the Abraham Accords. A successful businessman and CEO of Provenance Hotels, he offers valuable insights on leadership, strategy, and economic trends. A frequent media commentator and author of The Envoy, Sondland is an engaging speaker who delivers firsthand perspectives on diplomacy, business, and politics with clarity and candor.
Gordon Sondland on CNN: Trump-Putin Ukraine Peace Talks Analysis
Amb. Gordon Sondland presents at Reagan Library
The State Department and the state of American diplomacy must change.
In this address, Ambassador Sondland will look at the changes President Trump will implement, and how America will be more prosperous, peaceful, and powerful because of the seismic shift we’re about to witness.
Having served as U.S. ambassador to the European Union, Ambassador Sondland knows that diplomacy is an improvised dance, not a set pattern of steps, and the way the U.S. currently negotiates does not allow for improvisation. We operate in a way that reflects the age-old maxim, “never confuse effort with results.”
Making deals that benefits Americans is something that is top of mind for President Trump, who is deeply frustrated by our largess. Changing the way the government is structured is not without risk but it takes this kind of draconian effort to effect real, meaningful change.
Ambassador Sondland uses his years of expertise to give an insider’s look at how the State Department will be pieced apart and put back together in a smarter way.
From working with foreign heads of state to standing in the Oval Office helping President Trump pick walk-on music for his next rally (the Oval Office sounded like a country bar), Ambassador Sondland had an incredible inside look into a historic presidential administration. While he served as U.S. ambassador to the EU from 2018-2020, he learned how to manage President Trump’s unorthodox style, someone with a big ego but sound policy positions, all while learning important lessons on how real politics and diplomacy work.
Amb. Sondland will pull back the curtain, revealing incidents that occurred with our foreign allies and adversaries that help shed light on the inner workings of the White House and President Trump’s first term.
The president and Amb. Sondland share a background as hoteliers, and that line of work requires knowing how to make small talk with just about anyone. This served the ambassador well as he managed intense political conflict and major milestones of Trump’s first term including working with the EU to support the Abraham Accords and bringing senior reps to Ukraine.
How did Amb. Sondland manage his relationship with Trump and later, after being shredded by the intelligence committee, come out intact and wiser for it? These are just a few of the questions he’ll dive into with your audience.
How does America continue to be open to immigration while maintaining our culture and language? We need to both keep and elevate what people come to America for.
Our country needs commonsense, bipartisan immigration reform which will strengthen our economy, make our borders more secure, and protect the rule of law.
For this to happen in a way that both President Trump and the majority of Americans approve of, and fuel economic growth, we must increase immigration for skilled workers. Forty-four percent of Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or their children. We can’t let other countries attract skilled immigrants away from us, which is a very real threat. But this policy view is not without limits.
Having served as Ambassador to the European Union under President Trump’s first term, Amb. Sondland has an insider’s knowledge of President Trump’s vision for immigration reform and how he will reshape much of the American immigration system through executive actions.
During his inaugural address, President Donald Trump said, “We will measure our success not only by the battles we win but also by the wars that we end – and perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into.”
What does this mean for America and continuing to serve as the world’s policemen?
What happens around the globe impacts the United States more than ever before. In this environment, it’s not the morality of global policing that we should be debating, but what happens when there are no global police, especially with the technological capabilities that exist today. For freedom and democracy to prevail, the world does need policemen. Those two ideals are constantly up against oppression, one-party republics, and authoritarian governments.
America’s approach needs to be prioritizing smart balancing and selective blunting — moving beyond the ideal of maintaining U.S. hegemony by enforcing a so-called “rules-based order.” Instead, we should adapt to today’s geopolitical complexity. Knowing the art of dealing with Donald Trump, Amb. Sondland will discuss President Trump as “a globalist—on his own terms.”
Ambassador Gordon Sondland served as the 20th United States Ambassador to the European Union under President Trump’s first term.
As ambassador from 2018-2020, Sondland was one of the highest-ranking U.S. officials in Europe with a portfolio including trade, energy, national security, defense, and agriculture. He played a leading role in significantly advancing U.S. foreign policy across the EU and aided in multinational initiatives elsewhere, including Ukraine.
He was personally involved in bringing senior representatives from the EU to Ukraine to show zero daylight on support for Ukraine as a western democracy. Along with President Trump, Ambassador Sondland set up the Atlantic Highway for U.S. Liquified National Gas to put pressure on Nord Stream 2 and organized and hosted a first ever meeting between President Zelenskyy and key European leaders. He worked vigorously with the EU to not oppose and then ultimately support the Abraham Accords.
Bringing decades of business acumen to his role, Ambassador Sondland helped move the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) away from politicizing the Boeing 737 Max problem to unfairly benefit Airbus and was instrumental in a U.S. Small Modular Reactor deal (SMR) with Romania, bumping out the Chinese. Further negotiations that benefitted American industry included convincing the three largest German car manufacturers to build factories in the U.S. and avoid tariffs.
Considered one of America’s most sensible Republican voices, Ambassador Sondland provides deep expertise on diplomacy and national security, the U.S.-EU relationship, an insider’s look at The White House, and extensive knowledge on the first Trump presidency.
As a first adopter of the lifestyle hotel concept, Ambassador Sondland started his career in hospitality, working with boutique hotel pioneer Bill Kimpton. Sondland went on to form Provenance Hotels, opening its first property in 2001. Today, the successful brand is comprised of uniquely designed assets in the nation’s most sought-after metropolitan markets from Boston to Seattle. Sondland serves as Chairman and CEO of Provenance Hotels and offers a wealth of knowledge on the real estate, hospitality, and aviation sectors with a current airline transport pilot rating.
His community service includes positions on Oregon Governor Kulongoski’s transition team, as well as service on the Commission for White House Fellowships to which he was appointed by President George W. Bush. Governor Kulongoski asked Mr. Sondland to serve as a principal Republican liaison between Oregon and the White House, and during the following seven years Mr. Sondland assisted in successfully securing federal funds for various urgent State needs.
In 2022, Ambassador Sondland published The Envoy: Mastering the Art of Diplomacy with Trump and the World (Bombardier Books/Simon & Schuster). New York Times called it, “One of the most intriguing memoirs of the Trump era…a how-to manual for upwardly managing the unruliest of employers.” His opinion pieces have appeared in every prominent U.S. newspaper and foreign policy publication including The Wall Street Journal and Foreign Affairs.
Ambassador Sondland is a frequent guest on FOX, MSNBC, CNN and BBC, providing unique insights and candid commentary across the political divide.
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