Posted on 08/31/2026 2:27:07 PM PDT by DFG
Theodore Roosevelt was famous for gunboat diplomacy.
But Donald Trump's ambassador to Italy has found a rather more luxurious way to win friends: love boat diplomacy.
Billionaire entertainment mogul Tilman Fertitta, 69, is wooing foreign officials from the deck of his $450 million mega yacht, the Boardwalk, as he cruises around Italy on a two-and-a-half-month 'Coastal Diplomatic Tour.'
The 383ft vessel boasts two helipads, two swimming pools, four hot tubs, a fully equipped spa, scuba room, putting green and cinema, with business tycoons and sports personalities rubbing shoulders with government officials at lavish receptions.
Fertitta, the world's 312th-richest person according to Forbes, is also joined on board by his wife Lauren Ware Fertitta and their five-year-old daughter, Elle.
CNN, which toured the yacht, found deckhands polishing chrome railings and pillows being plumped before guests arrived, while Fertitta showed off the floating mansion's family kitchen and its stocked fridge.
The cruise comes at Fertitta's own expense - apart from security provided by the Italian government. He estimates the coastal tour will cost him about $1 million, with the voyage also serving as a celebration of America's 250th anniversary and a way to avoid renovations at his official residence in Rome.
But for some Italians, the billionaire's floating summer of excess is beginning to feel less like Roman Holiday and more like the last days of Rome.
Fertitta's extravagance has sparked protests and prompted questions about the cost to Italy. The Boardwalk was greeted by demonstrators when it docked in Venice last month, with chants of 'No space for billionaires' and 'Venice is not the United States.'
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.com ...
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Pure envy and covetousness.
It is his boat and his money. He can spend it how he likes.
The USA is one of the very few countries where you can become rich without being corrupt.
“Fury”from who exactly?
Italians?
Its his money he can spend it anyway he wants.
The Daily Mail gets more stupid by the minute.
Good work if you can get it.
Beautiful family.
Yup......older four are from his first marriage of 25 years. .....little girl w/ current wife.
I was going =to mention that. I’d guess that hundreds of people worked for many years designing, engineering and building that ship. There’s probably a land and sea based crew of 50 people employed full time too.
If you got it, flaunt it!
HST, “fury?”
My take: YUGE unnamed TDSER is furious.
I think the Ambassador is making FRiends in Italy for the USA.
TY
The Daily Mail has found hot tubs, helipads and yachts in the Mediterranean. Oh, my!
British TDS is tedious. lol
Fury? By who? The same people who were mad at Obama for hanging around on luxury yachts owned by billionaires?
Oh wait.
I’d buy that one but I don’t like the color...
I’ve spent time to harvest all the FReepers who have posted on this thread.
I’d like everyone to read and share the White House history of Presidential yachts.
https://www.whitehousehistory.org/uss-potomac-franklin-roosevelts-presidential-yacht
FDR retired the Sequoia. He commandeered the Electra from the Coast Guard and spent millions refitting it. It was renamed the USS Potomac.
Can anyone here imagine what would happen if President Trump took a US Coast Guard frigate out of service and had it re-fitted to be his personal yacht???? At taxpayer expense?
FDR and JFK cruised on the presidential yacht up and down the coast. Hosting dignitaries and even the British crown.
The media kissed their butts because they were democrats. President Nixon rode it too. Met with Russian leaders to negotiate.
I believe the Presidential yacht is all gone.
Fury? 😂😂😂
The folks who would be furious about this are generally furious 24/7 about everything.
They are so desperate.
Thanks for the ping to that bit of history.
Democrats love hypocrisy more than pigs love rolling in mud.
A yacht is a lovely thing. I’ve spent time on yachts. Old wooden yachts, too.
As I said, “smoke ‘em if you got ‘em”
“Overboard” is one of the best movies we have. Hawn, Russell version. There’s a reason it returns on cable like Jaws and Karate Kid
Being an Ambassador has it’s perks.
Who honestly gives a fig?
I say Good for Tillman!
“The USA is one of the very few countries where you can become rich without being corrupt.”
I would have said the very few countries where you could have become rich without being corrupt.
but I am having trouble thinking of modern day examples.
and I suppose that also all depends on how you define corrupt.
my definition is probably much more restrictive than most people.
I learned this from that very wealthy beautiful blonde lady that Clinton named Ambassador.....can't remember her name....ARmand Hammer's wife maybe?
She said she spent HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of dollars of her own money as Ambassador!!
That says something. And it's absolutely true.
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