US ambassador heading home from Denmark ahead of Trump’s presidential inauguration

Rufus Gifford, one of this country’s most high-profile diplomats ever, ends his stint this week

Ray Weaver

Rufus Gifford, the US ambassador to Denmark, wraps up his time here this week after three and a half years in Copenhagen.

As the Trump administration moves into place on January 20, Gifford will be just one of many diplomats the new president will replace. He will leave his post as one of the most popular ambassadors to ever serve in Denmark.

Reality show star
Gifford has been the subject of his own reality show, ‘Jeg Er Ambassadøren fra America’ (‘I Am the Ambassador From America’). Along with being aired in Denmark, the show about Gifford’s daily life has become a surprise Netflix hit.

Gifford was a regular participant in the Pride parade (photo by Hasse Ferrold )
He has also been the subject of a bestselling biography, and his popularity has often dwarfed that of even the most powerful Danish politicians when he has been out in public.
 
Questioned about his high level of visibility, Gifford said: “I’d rather be criticised doing what I’m doing than having people not pay attention to it.”
 
Accessible and friendly
His tenure in Denmark has been marked by his accessibility. He was a regular on Danish chat shows. And he was also a favourite among Danes for his openly gay lifestyle. His marriage to Stephen DeVincent at Copenhagen City Hall was a cause for celebration in a country proud of its tolerance.
Their wedding was like a scene out of a movie … well, a documentary (photo: Hasse Ferrold)
 
Gifford endeared himself even more to Danes this past New Year’s when he turned down an opportunity to attend President Obama’s official farewell dinner in the United States to attend the traditional Danish New Year banquet with Queen Margrethe of Denmark. Saying it was his last chance to attend a royal event in Denmark, Gifford chose the queen.
 
A busy last day
Although Gifford is officially scheduled to leave Denmark on January 20, he will say his goodbyes to Queen Margrethe and the people of Copenhagen today,  Monday January 16.

He will do some early morning voluntary work at a Copenhagen homeless shelter before meeting with the queen at Amalienborg at 11:30. He will then be given a farewell soiree at Copenhagen City Hall, hosted by Frank Jensen, the lord mayor of Copenhagen.

 

TOP STORIES

  • Chinese wind turbine companies sign pact to end race-to-the-bottom price war

    Chinese wind turbine companies sign pact to end race-to-the-bottom price war

    China’s 12 leading wind turbine makers have signed a pact to end a domestic price war that has seen turbines sold at below cost price in a race to corner the market and which has compromised quality and earnings in the sector.

  • Watch Novo Nordisk’s billion-kroner musical TV ad for Wegovy

    Watch Novo Nordisk’s billion-kroner musical TV ad for Wegovy

    Novo Nordisk’s TV commercial for the slimming drug Wegovy has been shown roughly 32,000 times and reached 8.8 billion US viewers since June.

  • Retention is the new attraction

    Retention is the new attraction

    Many people every year choose to move to Denmark and Denmark in turn spends a lot of money to attract and retain this international talent. Are they staying though? If they leave, do they go home or elsewhere? Looking at raw figures, we can see that Denmark is gradually becoming more international but not everyone is staying. 

  • Defence Minister: Great international interest in Danish military technology

    Defence Minister: Great international interest in Danish military technology

    Denmark’s Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen attended the Association of the Unites States Army’s annual expo in Washington DC from 14 to 16 October, together with some 20 Danish leading defence companies, where he says Danish drone technology attracted significant attention.

  • Doctors request opioids in smaller packs as over-prescription wakes abuse concerns

    Doctors request opioids in smaller packs as over-prescription wakes abuse concerns

    Doctors, pharmacies and politicians have voiced concern that the pharmaceutical industry’s inability to supply opioid prescriptions in smaller packets, and the resulting over-prescription of addictive morphine pills, could spur levels of opioid abuse in Denmark.

  • Housing in Copenhagen – it runs in the family

    Housing in Copenhagen – it runs in the family

    Residents of cooperative housing associations in Copenhagen and in Frederiksberg distribute vacant housing to their own family members to a large extent. More than one in six residents have either parents, siblings, adult children or other close family living in the same cooperative housing association.

Connect club

Connect Club is your gateway to a vibrant programme of events and an international community in Denmark.

Sign up here

Career

  • Come and join us at Citizens Days!

    Come and join us at Citizens Days!

    On Friday 27 and Saturday 28 of September, The Copenhagen Post will be at International Citizen Days in Øksnehallen on Vesterbro, Copenhagen. Admission is free and thousands of internationals are expected to attend

  • Diversifying the Nordics: How a Nigerian economist became a beacon for inclusivity in Scandinavia

    Diversifying the Nordics: How a Nigerian economist became a beacon for inclusivity in Scandinavia

    Chisom Udeze, the founder of Diversify – a global organization that works at the intersection of inclusion, democracy, freedom, climate sustainability, justice, and belonging – shares how struggling to find a community in Norway motivated her to build a Nordic-wide professional network. We also hear from Dr. Poornima Luthra, Associate Professor at CBS, about how to address bias in the workplace.

  • Lolland Municipality launches support package for accompanying spouses

    Lolland Municipality launches support package for accompanying spouses

    Lolland Municipality, home to Denmark’s largest infrastructure project – the Fehmarnbelt tunnel connection to Germany – has launched a new jobseeker support package for the accompanying partners of international employees in the area. The job-to-partner package offers free tailored sessions on finding a job and starting a personal business.

Want to advertise your job with CPH Post?

Contact us

Jobs