1. David Pressman previously served as the United States ambassador to the United Nations for Special Political Affairs and represented the United States at the United Nations Security Council from 2014 to 2016.
21 Facts About David Pressman
1. 2.
David Pressman was the first openly gay man to serve as the United States ambassador to Hungary and the first LGBT American to be confirmed twice by the United States Senate to serve as an ambassador of the United States.
3.
David Pressman was born in 1977 and grew up in California.
4.
David Pressman's parents were both lawyers, one of them a judge.
5.
David Pressman later clerked for the Supreme Court of Rwanda, where he evaluated post-genocide transitional justice initiatives.
6.
David Pressman undertook an assignment in Sudan for the United Nations.
7.
In early 2006, David Pressman accompanied actor George Clooney and his father on a trip to Darfur to make a documentary.
8.
David Pressman then joined Clooney on several missions to Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa to lobby for peace in Darfur.
9.
David Pressman joined Clooney in founding Not On Our Watch Project, an advocacy and grant-making organization focused on raising awareness about mass atrocities.
10.
Under President Barack Obama, David Pressman served as an assistant secretary in the Department of Homeland Security, where he was responsible for policy development on global criminal justice issues.
11.
David Pressman served as the Director for War Crimes and Atrocities on the National Security Council, and was a member of the Atrocities Prevention Board.
12.
David Pressman was confirmed by the Senate on September 17,2014.
13.
David Pressman led United States negotiations with China resulting in a package of multilateral sanctions in response to nuclear activities on the Korean Peninsula.
14.
David Pressman was on Jenner's team of attorneys suing Russian banks in US federal court in case over Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in 2014.
15.
In October 2018, David Pressman protested the US State Department's new policy under Pompeo that denied visas to the same-sex partners of foreign employees of international institutions like the United Nations and the World Bank unless they were married.
16.
On May 13,2022, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate David Pressman to be United States ambassador to Hungary.
17.
David Pressman was sworn in on August 8,2022, and presented his credentials to President Katalin Novak on September 14,2022.
18.
David Pressman is the first US ambassador to Hungary in years who was not appointed for being a political donor.
19.
David Pressman was regularly attacked by prominent Fidesz politicians and the Fidesz-controlled state media, which produced a highly "unusual" diplomatic situation between two NATO allies.
20.
David Pressman was particularly critical of the Fidesz government's close relationship with Beijing, pervasive public corruption, efforts to restrict LGBT rights in Hungary, of Orban's perceived closeness to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, and of Orban's support for Donald Trump in the 2024 US presidential election.
21.
Hungarian officials accused David Pressman of interfering in Hungary's domestic politics by regularly appearing in public alongside opposition politicians and participating in politically controversial events like Budapest Pride.