As relations between US President Donald Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni have become increasingly strained, America’s ambassador to Italy has embarked on a very different form of diplomacy: a 383-foot mega-yacht sailing along the Italian coast.
Tilman Fertitta, the Texas billionaire appointed as US ambassador to Rome, has spent the blistering Italian summer hosting political leaders, business executives, sports personalities, governors and mayors aboard the Boardwalk, his $450 million yacht. The vessel is part of a 2½-month “Coastal Diplomatic Tour” that has taken him from the Bay of Naples to Venice and Bari.
The yacht features teak decking, two helipads, two swimming pools, four hot tubs, a scuba room, a spa and a gym. Fertitta is paying for the tour himself, apart from state security.
With an estimated net worth of $11.1 billion, Fertitta, 69, is one of the wealthiest people ever to serve as a US ambassador, according to Forbes. The great-grandson of Sicilian immigrants owns the Houston Rockets, Bubba Gump Shrimp and Golden Nugget Hotel & Casinos. His extraordinary wealth has become both a diplomatic asset and a source of controversy in Italy.
The Washington Post reported that wealthy American ambassadors are not unprecedented, particularly in Western Europe, where political donors have often filled prestigious diplomatic posts and helped cover the substantial costs of official entertaining. But Fertitta’s appointment comes amid a much broader reliance on political appointees under Trump. About 90 per cent of US ambassador nominations in the second Trump administration are political appointees rather than career diplomats, according to the report.
Fertitta argues that his wealth, stature and personal relationship with Trump give him access and influence that can benefit American diplomacy. He said Italians appreciate the symbolism of an American ambassador arriving in their town aboard his own yacht and inviting them into his home.
Critics see something very different. Barbara Bodine, a Georgetown University scholar on diplomacy and former US ambassador to Yemen, said political ambassadors often use personal wealth to improve official residences, but questioned the scale of Fertitta’s display. She described his use of the yacht as inappropriate.
Fertitta’s relationship with Italy is also deeply personal. He has described serving as ambassador as one of his two great ambitions, alongside owning a local sports team. After achieving the latter, becoming ambassador was the remaining goal.
His arrival in Rome last year generated attention after he spent $2 million of his own money renovating Villa Taverna, the American ambassador’s residence. For three weeks, he reportedly used a helicopter to commute to work from a previous superyacht.
The Boardwalk arrived in May, and Fertitta estimates that the current coastal tour will cost him another $1 million. He said the journey is partly intended to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary and partly to avoid renovations taking place at the Rome residence.
The tour has also taken place against the backdrop of deteriorating relations between Trump and Meloni. Fertitta recalled attending a dinner with the two leaders at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate when they were still close allies. He said they had got “along well”.
Their relationship later fractured over Italy’s refusal to aid the war in Iran, which Meloni described as outside international law. As Trump and Meloni exchanged increasingly hostile messages, Fertitta said he advised Italian officials against engaging in a public verbal confrontation with the US president.
Meloni’s inner circle has nevertheless embraced Fertitta. Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said his affection for Italy and Trump’s respect for him were major advantages. Crosetto recalled Fertitta once offering to call basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal after the minister mentioned him as a favourite player.
Not everyone has been willing to participate. Ignazio La Russa, president of the republic’s Senate and co-founder of Meloni’s party, said he had promised to visit the yacht but had held back because he did not want to cause embarrassment for Fertitta or the government.
The strongest opposition emerged in Venice, where several hundred protesters greeted the yacht last month. Demonstrators chanted “No space for billionaires” and “Venice is not the United States”, while Green Party politicians demanded details of the security costs borne by Italy.
Angelo Bonelli, a national lawmaker and co-chair of the Greens and Left Alliance, launched a parliamentary inquiry into the cost of police, helicopters and ships used during the tour. He estimated the cost at “3 to 4 million euros” ($3.5 million to $4.6 million) and condemned the display of wealth as “frankly odious”. The Washington Post reported that Meloni’s government had not provided an answer and did not respond to its request for comment.
Yet the spectacle has achieved one undeniable result: attention. In Cefalù, Sicily, the city of Fertitta’s ancestors, a local bishop presented him with documents tracing his family history to 1566. In Bibione, meanwhile, the yacht drew attention as Fertitta took his daughter to an amusement park.
Fertitta describes himself as a conservative but says he has supported Democrats when he believed they were “right”. Three years ago, he served as finance director for Houston Democrat John Whitmire during his successful mayoral campaign.
Asked why one of America’s richest men would leave Texas and his business empire to become ambassador to Italy, Whitmire offered a simple response: “You know, that’s a damn good question.”
But he also described Fertitta as “a proud Italian and a proud American” who understood that the ambassadorship was an honour and believed there might not be another opportunity.
