LISBON – U.S. Ambassador to Portugal Randi Charno Levine has announced she will be resigning on Jan. 19, 2025 – the day before Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 47th President of the United States.
Nominated by President Joe Biden, Levine has served in this role since April 2022.
“Serving as Ambassador has been one of the greatest honors of my life, and an extraordinary adventure,” she said in a message, whose content was revealed by the U.S. Embassy & Consulate. “It has been a privilege to represent the United States in Portugal – a country rich in history, culture, and enduring friendship. Together we have worked to strengthen the deep and enduring economic and cultural bonds between our two nations.”
Levine is the second woman to head the U.S. diplomatic representation in Lisbon, after Elizabeth Bagley held that position under the Bill Clinton Administration from 1994 to 1997.
In a heartfelt message, Levine thanked President Biden for the opportunity to serve in this role and highlighted some of the key accomplishments during her tenure.
She pointed out how in 2023 she led a groundbreaking bilateral trade and investment mission to increase trade and investment linkages between U.S. and Portuguese companies in the renewable energy and critical minerals sectors, which advanced U.S.-Portuguese economic cooperation and diversified global supply chains. She also emphasized her work in cultural diplomacy, using culinary arts, sports, music, and visual arts to deepen connections, promote equity and inclusion, and foster shared values.
What have been Levine’s main accomplishments as ambassador to Portugal?
In 2023, under her leadership, U.S. investment in Portugal quadrupled to €2.1 billion (almost $2.2 billion), making the United States Portugal’s largest foreign investor and top trading partner outside the European Union, according to an U.S. Embassy and Consulate in Portugal press release.
In addition, significant U.S. investments were also made in Portugal’s infrastructure, such as in data center and subsea cables. The two countries also signed science agreements on cancer treatment and research collaboration as well as wildfire prevention and suppression.
Meanwhile, the number of US tourists in Portugal reached a record high. More than 2 million Americans visited Portugal in 2023 and contributed €2.5 billion to the local economy — a 30 percent increase from the previous year.
Academic exchanges flourished as well, with American student enrollment in Portuguese higher education institutions reaching an all-time high of 1,605 during the 2022–2023 academic year, a 58.3 percent increase.
Under her leadership, investor visas also became available to Portuguese businesspeople to create new opportunities for business and investment in the United States.
In the last three years, the bilateral defense relationship also thrived.
In her four visits to the Azores, she worked closely with Portuguese leaders to create new opportunities for military and security cooperation with the United States. During her tenure, Portugal also increased defense spending and announced plans to accelerate its commitment to the NATO Wales pledge.
The Consulate in Ponta Delgada also expanded its American staff to provide better service to the ever-increasing number of American tourists visiting the archipelago and the Mission celebrated the U.S. Department of Defense’s largest investments in Lajes Air Base in decades. Levine also led a groundbreaking sports diplomacy delegation featuring FIFA world champion Brandi Chastain, working with local soccer legend Pauleta to promote gender equity in soccer in the Azores.
Arts and culture play important role in Ambassador Levine’s work
Ambassador Levine’s love of arts and culture was an important part of her work, creating cultural initiatives that brought American and Portuguese artists and cultural leaders together and enhanced the visibility of Portuguese arts and culture.
The 2023 Art in Embassies celebration, inaugurated by a visit from First Lady Jill Biden, featured the Ambassador’s exhibition at the Ambassador’s residence – “Celebrating Diversity – Democracy and Representation in the Arts.” The event was supported by three days of public panels all over Lisbon with renowned Portuguese and American artists.
Ambassador Levine led a variety of cross-cultural programs connecting Portuguese and American artists, including Hip Hop Diplomacy featuring Sam the Kid, Culinary Diplomacy with American Chef Art Smith, and Music Diplomacy with L’USAfonia, a public concert where Luso African musicians perform American music in celebration of American Black History month.
These programs ran the gamut of promoting entrepreneurial skills, feeding the homeless, teaching healthy eating, and connecting the common challenges facing our two countries on both sides of the Atlantic, according to the U.S. Embassy and Consulate website.
To recognize the important role of the United States in supporting Portugal’s democracy and the 50th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution, Ambassador Levine created a museum-style exhibition at the Ambassador’s residence where important discussions between then-Ambassador Frank Carlucci and Mario Soares helped lay the foundation for the United States’ support for Portuguese democracy.
“During my tenure, I have traveled to every part of this beautiful county, meeting people from government, business and civil society,” said Ambassador Levine, reflecting upon her time in Lisbon. “I have also had the pleasure of working with a wide range of Portuguese leadership – the depth and scale of the successes we achieved together speak for themselves. This shared canvas we created will endure well beyond my time in Portugal. The work we have done together has laid a durable foundation for even greater partnerships in the future.”
What’s next for Ambassador Levine?
Ambassador Levine will receive the Grand Cross of the Order of Prince Henry the Navigator from President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa in January for her work creating new business opportunities in Portugal.
Prior to her ambassadorship, she was a leading advocate for cultural diplomacy and served as Commissioner at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery and Trustee at the Meridian International Center, where she chaired the Meridian Center for Cultural Diplomacy. She is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Ambassador Levine is expected to become an honorary professor in Art Diplomacy in culture studies at the School of Humanities at Portugal’s Católica University.
Who will be the next U.S. ambassador to Portugal?
Present-Elect Donald Trump has announced his picks for ambassadors to several countries, but Portugal was not one of them.
However, former investment bank president George Glass, who served as ambassador to Portugal in Trump’s first administration, will not be reprising his role in Lisbon as he has been chosen to be the next U.S. ambassador to Japan.
Former Cong. Devin Nunes of California, a Portuguese-American Republican who was one of Trump’s most ardent loyalists in Congress, is also not an option, as he has been selected to serve as chairman of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board.