United States President-elect Donald Trump has tapped his former intelligence chief, Richard Grenell, to be the presidential envoy for special missions, a post where he is expected to help the incoming administration tackle some of its most pressing challenges. difficult foreign policy.

"Ric will be working on some of the hottest hot spots in the world, including Venezuela and North Korea," Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social, without elaborating on the position's responsibilities.

Grenell reacted on platform X: "Working on behalf of the American people for Donald Trump is the greatest honor of life. President Trump is someone who finds solutions to problems, keeping Americans safe and prosperous. We have a lot of work to do. Let's start the work", he said.

Republican US Sen. Bill Hagerty expressed support for Grenell, saying at Platform X that he would "do a great job tackling some of the world's toughest challenges."

Meanwhile, the media have written that Grenell will also focus on the tensions in the Balkans.

During Trump's first term, Grenell served as ambassador to Germany, special presidential envoy for negotiations between Serbia and Kosovo, as well as acting Director of National Intelligence.

He has long been one of Trump's foreign policy advisers.

After campaigning heavily for Trump in the Nov. 5 election, Grenell was a top contender for Secretary of State, but Trump nominated Sen. Marco Rubio for the post.

He was also mentioned as a possible candidate for the position of special envoy for the war in Ukraine, but ultimately Trump chose retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg for that job.

He was present when Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in September. Grenell has spoken out in favor of a peace deal that would preserve Ukrainian territory but allow for "autonomous regions" where Russia can remain in control.

He has also advised against expanding NATO to include Ukraine's membership, saying, like Trump, that the alliance should not expand until current members meet the alliance's defense spending targets. Members of the transatlantic alliance have pledged for years to spend 2% of their Gross Domestic Product on defense, but some countries have yet to reach this target.