UK ambassador confirmed as New York sports owner

by Sebastian Wainwright

Donald Trump’s press secretary has confirmed that NFL team owner Woody Johnson will be the US ambassador to London.

The confirmation by Sean Spicer came after Trump made the impromptu announcement at a lunch at the Trump International Hotel in Washington yesterday.

Trump referred to Johnson, owner of the New York Jets, as “ambassador” and also said Johnson is “going to St. James,” a reference to the Court of St. James’s. The U.S. ambassador to the U.K. is known formally as the ambassador to the Court of St. James.

Johnson served as a vice chairman of the Trump Victory Committee, the joint fundraising committee between the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee, and helped raise millions of dollars for Trump’s campaign. He personally donated $100,00 to President Trump, more than any other team owner.

The heir of the Johnson & Johnson medicinal empire is worth a cool $3.5 billion and follows suit in Trump’s administration already worth a combined $20 billion.

Mark Cannizaro, sports writer at the New York Post who covers Johnson’s Jets, said, “Mr Johnson is a very driven person, I don’t think he’s ever slowed down a day in his life.

“The Jets played in London in 2015, so maybe that swayed him.”

Surprisingly, there is already a precedent for NFL owners as diplomats. Dan Rooney, owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, served as US ambassador to Ireland from 2009 to 2012 under the Obama administration. After Rooney left for Dublin, he placed the team ownership in the hands of his brother, Art Rooney II. That is expected to be the case for Johnson’s brother, Christopher.

Johnson is an ardent supporter of the NFL’s plan to base a team in London and the London Games series as a whole. It remains to be seen if he will have any impact on the talks going forward.