Trump Names Art Collector Nicole McGraw as US Ambassador to Croatia

President-elect Donald Trump said Nicole is a ‘philanthropist, businesswoman, and world renowned art collector.’

President-elect Donald Trump announced on Dec. 17 that he has nominated Florida-based art collector Nicole McGraw to serve as the next U.S. ambassador to Croatia.

“Nicole is a philanthropist, businesswoman, and World renowned art collector,” Trump wrote in a statement posted on Truth Social.

McGraw opened her first art gallery in Palm Beach Gardens back in 2006, according to Trump. She has since built a client base that spans across the globe, as well as a “successful hedge fund specializing in fine art investments,” the president-elect said.

According to her official website, McGraw attended Southern Methodist University in Texas where she graduated with a BFA in Art History and Studio art.

She formed a non-profit organization called CANVAS Art Charities in 2015 to fund public installations, exhibitions, education, and events that “enrich communities,” according to her website.

The organization hosts annual shows in downtown West Palm Beach that have added more than $3,000,000 in public art to West Palm Beach’s landscape and “turned it into an important destination,” the website states.

McGraw also formed the Canvas Art Fund—a hedge fund specializing in procuring and marketing high-value art pieces that are distressed due to issues such as bankruptcies, and fire sales—in 2016, her official website states.

Through her work, McGraw has helped raise more than $2,000,000 for local charities over the past three years, according to her biography. She has also been a board member of Place of Hope, a faith-based organization offering programs and services to abused and neglected children.

Trump said McGraw’s work with Place of Hope “raised Millions of Dollars for neglected and abused children.”

The role of U.S. ambassador to Croatia has been filled by Nathalie Rayes since January 2024.

Rayes is the former president and CEO of Latino Victory, a progressive political action committee co-founded by actress Eva Longoria aimed at increasing Latino representation at every level of government.

Earlier in her career, Rayes managed the Los Angeles Mayor’s Office of Intergovernmental Relations, International Trade, and Protocol, and established the city’s first Office of Immigrant Affairs, according to her official biography.

Trump’s latest nomination comes after he picked former Fox News personality Kimberly Guilfoyle to be the U.S. ambassador to Greece.

The incoming U.S. leader also nominated former U.S. ambassador to El Salvador and ex-CIA official Ronald Johnson for U.S. ambassador to Mexico post, and private equity real estate investor Tom Barrack as U.S. ambassador to Turkey.

Trump on Dec. 11 also nominated former NFL player and one-time Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker to serve as U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas.