Lou Rinaldi (businessman)
Lou Rinaldi | |
|---|---|
| United States Ambassador to Uruguay Nominee | |
| Assuming office TBD | |
| President | Donald Trump |
| Succeeding | Heide B. Fulton |
| Personal details | |
| Born | June 14, 1954[1] Italy |
| Spouse | Lauretta Rinaldi |
| Children | 4 |
| Education | University of Labor of Uruguay |
Louis Rinaldi (born June 14, 1954) is an Uruguayan-American businessman. In December 2024, then President-elect Donald Trump named Rinaldi as his nominee for ambassador to Uruguay.[2]
Early life and career
[edit]Rinaldi was born in Italy but his family emigrated to Uruguay when he was four and a half years old where he lived with his six siblings and parents on a ranch in Colón, Lavalleja Department.[1] He graduated from the University of Labor of Uruguay as a mechanical turner.[1] He and his family emigrated to the United States when he was nineteen where he worked in construction in New York.[1]
In 1975, he started his own construction company known as Louis Rinaldi Inc.[1]
Ambassador nomination
[edit]In December 2024, then President-elect Donald Trump named Rinaldi as his nominee for ambassador to Uruguay.[2][3]
Personal life
[edit]He met his wife, Lauretta, in the 1970s when she was teaching him English. They live in Westchester County, New York.[1]
In 2013, one of his four children died at the age of 28.[1]
Rinaldi frequently visits Uruguay and is a supporter of Uruguayan soccer team Peñarol.[1]
Rinaldi met future President Donald Trump at a golf course in the summer of 1993. He knew Trump did not like shaking hands, due to hygiene reasons, while playing golf, so he told Trump that he was only going to shake his hand because they shared the same birthday, June 14.[1][3]
Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou called Rinaldi in June 2020 after he had played a golf match with Trump to greet him for his birthday.[4]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i Silva, Joaquín (January 12, 2019). "La historia del uruguayo que es íntimo amigo de Donald Trump" [The story of the Uruguayan who is a close friend of Donald Trump]. El Observador (in Spanish). Archived from the original on January 8, 2025. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
- ^ a b "Trump named Lou Rinaldi as ambassador to Uruguay, and Leah F. Campos as ambassador to the Dominican Republic".
- ^ a b "Trump picks golfing friend with Uruguayan past for Montevideo Embassy". MercoPress. Retrieved May 15, 2025.
- ^ "Cambio de gobierno en Estados Unidos puede revertir el "terreno ganado" por la administración de Lacalle Pou con Trump" [Change of government in the United States can reverse the “ground gained” by the Lacalle Pou administration with Trump]. Búsqueda (in Spanish). November 5, 2020. Archived from the original on January 8, 2025. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
| Minister Resident | |
|---|---|
| Chargé d'Affaires | |
| Minister Resident | |
| Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary | |
| Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | |
Current United States ambassadors to Latin America | ||
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|  | |
- 1954 births
- Living people
- 21st-century American businesspeople
- 21st-century Uruguayan people
- Businesspeople from New York (state)
- Italian emigrants to Uruguay
- People from Lavalleja Department
- People from Westchester County, New York
- Second Trump administration personnel
- Uruguayan businesspeople
- Uruguayan emigrants to the United States