Theodore Roosevelt was known for his gunboat diplomacy.
But Donald Trump‘s ambassador at Italy has found a more luxurious way to win friends: love boat diplomacy.
Billionaire entertainment mogul Tilman Fertitta, 69, is trying to woo foreign officials from the deck of his $450 million megayacht, the Boardwalk, as he sails through Italy on a two-and-a-half-month ‘Coastal Diplomatic Tour’.
The 100-meter ship features two helipads, two swimming pools, four hot tubs, a full-service spa, diving room, putting green and cinema, with business magnates and sports personalities joining government officials at lavish receptions.
Fertitta, who is the 312th richest person in the world according to Forbes, is also joined by his wife Lauren Ware Fertitta and their five-year-old daughter Elle.
CNN, which toured the yacht, Sailors were busy polishing the chrome railings and cushions that were being padded before guests arrived, while Fertitta showed off the floating mansion’s family kitchen and stocked refrigerator.
The cruise is at Fertitta’s own expense, excluding Italian government security. He estimates the coastal trip will cost him about $1 million, with the trip also serving as a celebration of America’s 250th anniversary and a way to avoid renovations to his official residence in Rome.
But for some Italians, the billionaire’s floating summer of excess is starting to feel less like a Roman holiday and more like the last days of Rome.
Tilman Fertitta, 69, with his wife Lauren Ware Fertitta and their five-year-old daughter Elle
The Boardwalk features two helipads, two swimming pools, four hot tubs, a full-service spa, a diving room, a putting green and a movie theater, with business magnates and sports personalities interacting with government officials at lavish receptions
Fertitta aboard his luxury megayacht in Portofino, Italy, on August 15
Earlier this month, a helicopter sat on the helipad of the $450 million ship
Demonstrators clash with riot police during a protest against the visit of US Ambassador to Italy Tilman Fertitta in Venice on July 17
Fertitta’s extravagance has sparked protests and raised questions about the costs to Italy. The Boardwalk was greeted by protesters last month when it docked in Venice, with chants of “No room for billionaires” and “Venice is not the United States.”
Angelo Bonelli, a national lawmaker and co-chair of the Greens and Left Alliance, is demanding that Giorgia Meloni’s government disclose the costs of police, helicopters and boats used for security around Fertitta’s ship. Bonelli estimates that the bill for the Italian state could be as much as $4.6 million.
But the Texan insists his unique style of diplomacy is paying off.
‘You have an ambassador with cachet, and the Italians like that’ Fertitta told the Washington Post ahead of a hunting party in Bari attended by local lawmakers and military top brass.
‘They like that [they’re] It is important enough to us that you come to our city with your big boat, show us respect and have us in your house,” he said. “I hear that from people.”
The newspaper reported that Fertitta has won fans in Meloni’s inner circle, despite Trump’s recent public spats with his NATO ally over Italy’s refusal to support the war with Iran.
‘From our point of view, his most important [asset] is that he loves Italy and feels deeply connected to it,” Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said of Fertitta, whose family is from Sicily.
“The other benefit is that Trump respects him,” Crosetto added. “He’s one of the few who is allowed to call him up and talk for half an hour about anything.”
The Post also reported that Ignazio La Russa, president of the Italian Senate and co-founder of Meloni’s party, promised to attend one of Fertitta’s parties but stayed away, saying he did not want to cause “any shame” during the protests in Venice.
Money Talks: Fertitta with Donald Trump in the Oval Office
Fertitta aboard his yacht before hosting city officials in Genoa, Italy, on August 19
The colossal yacht moored in Portofino earlier this month
Fertitta spent $2 million of his own money renovating Villa Taverna, the ambassador’s residence in Rome, after arriving in Italy last year.
He has a reputation for combining business with celebrity and politics. His relationship with Trump began in 1999 when he set up a restaurant at the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City.
Fertitta, who grew up peeling shrimp at his father’s restaurant on Galveston Island, bought the Landry’s restaurant chain in the 1980s. Since then, it has become a billion-dollar behemoth with more than 600 restaurants, hotels, casinos and entertainment venues.
He also owns the Golden Nugget Hotels and Casinos and the NBA’s Houston Rockets, and was the host of the reality TV show Billion Dollar Buyer.
He told CNN that he had long desired the job of Italian ambassador because of his Sicilian heritage.
Trump has placed 90 political appointees in ambassadorial roles, a significantly higher percentage than previous administrations, as the White House gambles on wealthy and well-connected figures to represent the US abroad.
Trump’s in-laws Charles Kushner serves as ambassador to France, banker Warren Stephens is ambassador to Britain and Leandro Rizzuto Jr represents the Organization of American States.
Fertitta is unusual even in that list, with his $11.1 billion fortune making him one of the richest people to ever serve as US ambassador.
Former US ambassador to Yemen Barbara Bodine, who served under Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, disapproves of excessive cruising.
“Political ambassadors will mainly use their personal wealth to upgrade the residence,” Bodine told the Post. ‘But to show it off like that? My reaction when I found out that… he was there in this yacht is that this is inappropriate.”
Riot police stand guard as demonstrators gather to protest U.S. Ambassador to Italy Tilman Fertitta’s visit to Venice on July 17
Riot police protected the yacht in July when it docked in Venice
The megayacht in the port of Livorno, Italy, on August 17
The tour nevertheless generated a lot of attention, from the protest in Venice to Fertitta’s ancestral home of Cefalu in Sicily, where the local bishop presented him with documents tracing his family history back to 1566.
Fertitta told CNN: “I’m not doing this to show off. I’m doing this because it works for American and Italian relations and it works for Ambassador Fertitta’s relations with all the people in these small towns.”
The Daily Mail has contacted Fertitta and the Foreign Office for comment.
