Trump Nominates U.S Ambassador for the Bahamas: A Floridian With Connections to Eleuthera

The Bahamas has been without a U.S ambassador for nearly 9 years

According to the White House, Douglass is an entrepreneur and philanthropist who founded K2 Advisors in 1994 and managed it for more than two decades.

He sold K2 Advisors to Franklin Templeton Investments in 2012 after building its holdings from $5.4 million in 1994 to nearly $11 billion and remained a Senior Advisor and board member until 2017.

The White House said, earlier in his career, Douglass was Managing Director of Caspian Securities LLC and was a managing director for Tiedemann International Research for whom he first managed their office in Tokyo, Japan, and then co-managed their United States business in New York.

Douglass has served on multiple non-profit boards, including those of the Jazz Foundation of America, CitySquash, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and Outward Bound USA, according to the White House.

Douglass received his B.A. degree from Vanderbilt University.

Douglass will have to be appointed by Trump and confirmed by the U.S Senate by a majority vote.

Douglass, if chosen, will oversee the diplomatic relations and foreign policy between the United States and the Bahamas.

In November of last year, Doug told the Tribune, “My heart and soul are the sand and beautiful waters of these islands and its residents. As an accomplished sailor, I have navigated the waters both fishing and sailing throughout the Bahamas and I have a deep connection to the country.”

“My favourite memory as a child in The Bahamas is going fishing with my grandparents and their friends. I remember bringing my friends from the United States to Eleuthera and showing them the communities and settlements that I was a part of. There was a time when I was the limbo king of South Eleuthera,” he said.

Doug told the Tribune, after witnessing the devastation left behind by Dorian, “If the U.S. doesn’t step in, the Chinese will—and have already.”

The Bahamas has been without an ambassador since 2011, under the administration of President Barack Obama.

When Trump came to office, he nominated San Diego billionaire Doug Manchester, who is affectionately known as “Papa Doug”, as ambassador to the Bahamas.

Manchester pulled out in October of last year, citing personal reasons.

CBS News said it uncovered an apparent ‘pay-for-play’ scheme involving the Republican National Committee and Manchester, as the the news agency said it received emails showing that Manchester was was asked by the RNC to donate half a million dollars, as the Senate debated his appointment as ambassador to the Bahamas.

#bahamasambassador #usambassador #whitehouse #presidentdonaldtrump #williamdouglass #republicannationalcommittee #dougmanchester #cbsnews