Gordon David Sondland was born on July 16,1957 and is an American businessman.
30 Facts About Gordon Sondland
2.
Gordon Sondland is the founder and chairman of Provenance Hotels.
3.
Gordon Sondland served as the United States Ambassador to the European Union from 2018 to 2020.
4.
In November 2019, Sondland testified as a witness at the impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump.
5.
Gordon Sondland was fired by Trump on February 7,2020, two days after the conclusion of Trump's impeachment trial.
6.
Gordon Sondland was born to a Jewish family in Mercer Island, Washington, the son of Frieda and Gunther Gordon Sondland.
7.
Gordon Sondland's mother fled Germany before the Second World War to Uruguay, where after the war she reunited with his father, who had served in the French Foreign Legion.
8.
Gordon Sondland attended the University of Washington but dropped out and became a commercial real estate salesman.
9.
In 1985, Gordon Sondland raised $7.8 million from friends and his wealthy brother-in-law and purchased the Roosevelt Hotel, a bankrupt Seattle hotel.
10.
In 1998, Gordon Sondland purchased and redeveloped four hotels in Seattle, Portland, and Denver including Seattle's Alexis Hotel in partnership with Bill Kimpton.
11.
Gordon Sondland was appointed the commission's chair in 2002 and has served in that capacity until 2015.
12.
At the 2015 Oregon Film Annual Governor's Awards, Gordon Sondland received the "Achievement in Film Service Award" for his role in growing Oregon's film industry.
13.
Gordon Sondland was a bundler for Mitt Romney's 2012 Presidential campaign, and in 2012, Sondland was selected to serve as a member of Mitt Romney's presidential transition team.
14.
In March 2018, President Trump selected Gordon Sondland to be the next United States ambassador to the European Union, a position which had been vacant since January 2016.
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Gordon Sondland's nomination received bipartisan support and he was confirmed on June 28,2018.
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Gordon Sondland supported using a strong US-EU economic partnership to counter what he called "economic aggression and unfair trade practices" from China.
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In pursuit of this end, Gordon Sondland promoted the idea of giving European governments access to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to allow them to better screen investors.
18.
Gordon Sondland worked on data protection rules regarding US compliance with the EU-US privacy shield.
19.
Gordon Sondland pledged to work with the EU to address global security threats.
20.
Gordon Sondland was the Trump Administration's lead in talks with EU member countries on the US's decertification and withdrawal from the Iran Nuclear Deal.
21.
Gordon Sondland was a vocal opponent of the construction of Russia's Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which would transport gas across the Baltic Sea to the EU.
22.
Gordon Sondland argued that the pipeline would leave the EU dependent upon Russia for its energy needs and increase Russia's leverage on key US allies in NATO.
23.
US security experts were alarmed by the fact that Gordon Sondland called a US president on an unsecured line in a public place, particularly in Ukraine, where calls are assumed to be monitored by Russia.
24.
Gordon Sondland said it was "his personal guess" that the aid to Ukraine was being withheld to achieve that goal, but that he never heard Trump say so.
25.
Gordon Sondland testified to Devin Nunes that he remains "a proud member of the three amigos," and said that he would have objected to the Burisma investigation if he had connected it to the Bidens.
26.
On February 7,2020, two days after Trump's acquittal, Gordon Sondland was recalled from his post, effective immediately.
27.
In May 2021, Gordon Sondland sued Pompeo and the government for $1.8 million, asserting the State Department reneged on its promise to pay his legal fees.
28.
In March 2023, Gordon Sondland participated as presenting underwriter for the traveling Auschwitz Exhibition at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Foundation.
29.
At its opening reception on March 23,2023, Gordon Sondland spoke about his support of the exhibit, and his parents, Frieda and Gunther Gordon Sondland, who survived the Holocaust.
30.
In 2022, Gordon Sondland published a book, entitled The Envoy: Mastering the Art of Diplomacy with Trump and the World.