Netherlands
Editorial
The Netherlands should be used to American disdain by now, said Amsterdam’s NRC Handelsblad in an editorial. We’ve given up expecting any U.S. ambassador to speak even rudimentary Dutch. Yet it’s still disappointing that, once again, the new U.S. envoy has “no diplomatic experience whatsoever.” Instead, he has money. Roland E. Arnall is a billionaire who is majority stakeholder in Ameriquest, a giant mortgage company. His confirmation as ambassador was held up for months because of allegations that his company had engaged in unfair lending practices; the company eventually paid $325 million to settle the claims. In many countries, a businessman with such a past would not be selected to represent the government abroad. But Arnall donated $12 million to the Bush campaign. That’s a hefty amount “even by American standards.” So Arnall is on his way to the Netherlands. Preliminary reports say he “lacks both the language and the bearing of a diplomat.” Let’s hope he can learn.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
The most anticipated movies of 2026The Week Recommends If the trailers are anything to go by, film buffs are in for a treat
-
The biggest viral moments of 2025In the Spotlight From the Coldplay concert kiss cam to a celebrity space mission, these are some of the craziest, and most unexpected, things to happen this year
-
Environment breakthroughs of 2025In Depth Progress was made this year on carbon dioxide tracking, food waste upcycling, sodium batteries, microplastic monitoring and green concrete
