American Diplomacy Arrives In Italy With Two Helipads And Four Hot Tubs

ROME—U.S. Ambassador Tilman Fertitta has spent the summer conducting a two-and-a-half-month diplomatic tour of Italy aboard Boardwalk, his 383-foot yacht valued at about $450 million.

The vessel has two helipads, two pools, four hot tubs, a spa, a gym and a scuba room. Fertitta, a billionaire restaurant and casino owner appointed by President Trump, has hosted executives, athletes, governors, mayors and other officials along the coast. Embassy staff call it coastal diplomacy. Earlier generations managed with cables, receptions and a building.

Fertitta says the yacht’s operating costs are his own, while the State Department provides official security. In Venice, about 300 protesters objected to the vessel and the police presence around it. Opposition lawmakers asked the government to explain the costs and arrangements, discovering that even a privately funded floating palace can produce a public invoice.

The tour also captures the administration’s approach to diplomatic staffing. Roughly 90 percent of Trump’s second-term ambassadorial nominees have been political appointees rather than career diplomats, according to The Washington Post, a larger share than in recent administrations. Fertitta’s qualifications include a reported net worth of $11.1 billion and enough guest cabins to make bilateral seating charts optional.

The ambassador has argued that the yacht lets him reach communities beyond Rome. It certainly does. American soft power can now pull directly into port, lower two gangways and remind allies that representative government remains available by invitation.