Peter Schorsch
President Donald Trump has nominated a major campaign donor from Palm Beach County as the next U.S. Ambassador to Spain, the White House announced.
Duke Buchan is a founder of private investment and management firm Hunter Global Investors. During Trump’s campaign for the White House, he and his wife Hannah Buchan gave nearly $900,000 to Trump’s joint fundraising committee with the RNC.
Buchan backed former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in the Republican primary before throwing his support behind Trump.
The press release announcing Buchan’s hire notes that he is an alumnus of University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, where he earned degrees in Spanish and business.
In addition to being appointed as U.S. Ambassador to Spain, Buchan will also serve concurrently as the U.S. Ambassador to Andorra. The White House said Buchan has a “working knowledge” of Catalan, the primary language of the landlocked microstate between France and Spain.
In 2011, the businessman founded the Buchan Excellence Fund, which supports UNC faculty, graduate students and undergraduates in Spanish languages, literature and culture.
The fund sponsors research into Spanish culture and linguistics and also provides opportunities for faculty and students to travel to Spain.
A majority of the U.S. Senate must vote to confirm ambassadors.
