Trump taps billionaire Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta as Italy ambassador

Donald Trump announced Saturday that he is tapping Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta to be the next ambassador to Italy, where firebrand Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has become a European power player — and a Trump favorite.

“Tilman is an accomplished businessman, who has founded and built one of our Country’s premier entertainment and real estate companies, employing approximately 50,000 Americans,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, referring to Fertitta’s ownership of the hospitality giant Landry’s, which operates over 600 restaurants, casinos and hotels across the country.

Fertitta has never held political office but is a longtime GOP donor — including to Trump’s Save America PAC. He also serves as chair of the University of Houston Board of Regents.

The Texas native is the latest in a string of Trump allies and donors chosen as European envoys, several of whom have no prior political experience. He joins fellow billionaires Warren Stephens and Tom Barrack as ambassador picks for the U.K. and Turkey, and Trump relative Charles Kushner and ally Kimberly Guilfoyle as French and Greek envoy appointees.

Like Trump, the Rockets owner also has a reality TV background, starring in CNBC’s “Billion Dollar Buyer.” Earlier on Saturday, Trump also tapped “The Apprentice” producer Mark Burnett to serve as special envoy to the United Kingdom.

The incoming Trump administration is expected to work closely with the Italian government. Both the president-elect and his close adviser and billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk have cozied up to Meloni in recent months, calling her “beautiful,” “a fantastic leader and person” and a “precious genius.”