Inside Trump's decision-making to dispatch golf pals and MAGA allies to swankiest embassies

Donald Trump has full control of the selection process to dispatch family members, golf pals and Palm Beach socialites across the world as U.S. ambassadors.

Insiders say Trump is calling the shots himself on the most glamorous ambassadorships, while trading notes with his pick for secretary of state - Marco Rubio - on other slots. 

The choice that is drawing the most visceral reaction from his foes to date is the choice to install former Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle as ambassador to Greece. 

Trump announced her nomination hours after DailyMail.com reported that her planned engagement to his son Don Jr. was off – raising the suspicion that the plumb post was an inducement for her to keep quiet. 

Don Jr. quickly moved on from Guilfoyle to Palm Beach socialite Bettina Anderson, 38.

Democrats have condemned Trump's pick of Guilfoyle, among others who have landed swanky ambassadorships, labeling it a 'clown car.'  

'It’s unfortunately, you know, a clown car if it wasn’t so dangerous, because these people will be put in positions that are really important for the country and important for people,' retiring Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) told DailyMail.com.

But she declined to say specifically what galled her about the Guilfoyle pick. 'I mean, you can guess. You can guess, okay?' was all she would offer.

New Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) – a longtime Trump nemesis who could be in line for 'retribution' as a former Trump impeachment manager – is among those who has taken notice of the nomination. 

He is vowing to scrutinize MAGA ally Guilfoyle's record as part of the Senate's 'advise and consent role.'

'Apart from being part of the family, I don't know what relevant background she has, but I will obviously be looking into it,' he told DailyMail.com.

There is little doubt that it is Trump himself who is calling the shots on the top ambassador picks, which have been rolled out with highly personalized statements on their attributes from the president-elect. 

Former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott said Rubio has made plain that it is a personal Trump operation.

'I talked to him about it, actually, and he did say that the president's doing those things himself,' the Mississippi Republican said.  

'That's not a bad gig, Athens - [to] hang out there,' Lott, now a partner with Crossroads Strategies, observed. 

'Well, it appears that, you know, her relationship with Don Jr. kind of fizzled out, and maybe she was looking for an opportunity. But here's the thing about Trump: he's moving. He's appointing - doing a lot of these things,' he added, talking up several choices and noting his former chief of staff served as ambassador to Barbados.

'I could not be more proud of her and the important role she'll continue to play in my father's administration,' Donald Trump, Jr. said after his father announced the nomination of his ex. 

Before her TV career, Guilfoyle was an assistant district attorney in San Francisco and later often served as a Trump surrogate at campaign events. 

'The American people re-elected President Trump by a resounding margin giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail — and his Cabinet picks reflect his priority to put America First,' Trump-Vance Transition Spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told DailyMail.com.

'President Trump will continue to appoint highly-qualified men and women who have the talent, experience, and necessary skill sets to Make America Great Again,' she added.

A source close to Guilfoyle ridiculed the idea that the Athens assignment was motivated by the end of her relationship with the president's son. 

'Oh yeah: get her out of here – that’s the stupidest thing,' said the source, who noted her prowess as a fundraiser and years-long association with the president-elect.

'People were going to say he’s banishing you to Greece. If I was going to banish my ex to somewhere, it certainly wouldn’t be Mykonos,' quipped the source. 

'Donald Trump, Jr., is very supportive of the move, as are several of his friends who have known Guilfoyle for years. 'They still talk. They’re very close,' said the source.

Trump's astonishing return to power has many of his opponents on the back foot, while media outlets he has clashed with slapping him on the cover and paying big settlements, and his controversial cabinet selections getting a strong reception from Republicans who will take over the Senate. 

Even many Democrats do not appear eager to pick a fight with Trump while his stock is high. 

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), the former Hillary Clinton running mate, was loathe to name his least favorite selections. 

'I see people that make me wonder,' said the Senate Foreign Relations Committee member. Pressed on which, he responded: 'I think I’m going to save that for next year.' Trump will be able to push through nominees on a simple majority with only Republican votes.

Trump's announcement that he'll nominate NFL great Herschel Walker to be ambassador to the Bahamas didn't get a rise out of Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), who defeated him in an election where Walker was accused by two women of pressuring them into having abortions despite being publicly anti abortion.

'I look forward to my role in advise and consent in the Senate and I will give all the president's nominees full consideration when they're placed before the Senate,' said Warnock. 

Other selections that have raised eyebrows have included Trump's announcement he'll send Charles Kushner, father of son-in-law Jared Kushner, to Paris. 

Trump pardoned Charles Kushner in the last days of his first term. The real estate billionaire served time in prison over tax evasion and witness tampering, over an incident where he hired a prostitute to sleep with his brother-in-law in order to record it and send a tape to his sister.

This week, Trump announced that he would nominate Nicole McGraw, who runs a Palm Beach art gallery, to be ambassador to Croatia, and real estate broker Arthur Graham Fisher to be ambassador to Austria. 

Trump called McGraw a 'philanthropist, businesswoman and world-renowned art collector.'

He announced he would name Lou Rinaldi, a friend of 30 years whom he often golfs with, to be ambassador to Uruguay. 

'Lou is a great golfer, and will be in a Country with some terrific courses,' Trump said. 

He didn't mention that there is a Trump Tower in Punta del Este, Uruguay which features Trump Golf and a practice area.

Trump's choice for Luxembourg is Stacey Feinberg. 

'As a Producer of Broadway musicals, a motivational speaker, and a Board Member of the Women Founders Network, Stacey is committed to supporting women in launching their careers, and scaling their businesses to unprecedented success,' Trump gushed in his announcement, saying she would be 'GREAT.'

Others have concrete political experience and more traditional familiarity with levers of power, like former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Trump's choice to be the U.S. ambassador in Jerusalem, and former Rep. Pete Hoekstra, who helped Trump win the state of Michigan as state chair and who is Trump's choice for U.S. ambassador to Canada.

Buttressing Trump's effort to stock embassies with his pals: there is a long history of sending big donors and even longtime political associates overseas, with about a third of the assignments typically going to 'political' people. 

He also is bringing on Massad Boulos, the billionaire father in law of Tiffany Trump, as a senior advisor on the Middle East at the White House.

Boulos played a role in Trump's effort to win over Arab American voters in battleground states, touting his efforts to end wars in Arab language interviews with Lebanese media.

'Certain posts — London, Paris, Berlin, Dublin, Rome, Tokyo, Beijing, Canberra and Jerusalem are good examples — are usually led by political appointees,' said former State Department spokesman and NSC official P.J. Crowley.

'Countries value the fact that they have a relationship with the President. Embassies in complex neighborhoods — think Islamabad, Baghdad, Abuja, Minsk — tend to be filled with ambassadors with significant regional experience,' he noted.

'Take Seoul for example. The current ambassador is a career foreign service officer. His two predecessors was political appointees, but both national security experts.'

The current ambassador in Athens is a political appointee, but he was preceded by a career foreign service officer.

'She's excellent,' outgoing Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) said of Guilfoyle. 

'When it comes to any of his picks, there's going to be probably a real resume behind it. And in some cases there won't be. And all I can tell you is the collective picks on almost anything we've been putting into the U.S. government ... I'm going to give him broad latitude, because whatever prior folks have been doing, it hasn't given us world security and it certainly hasn't benefitted our economy.'

It's a system that plenty of lawmakers lament.

'The Senate should make sure that the people who are in any of those positions are up to the task of doing the job – not just rubber stamp it,' said defeated Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.).

'I just think that's bad. It's what's wrong with this country. Quite frankly, still in Washington, DC, if you're an R, you rubber stamp Rs. I if you’re D, you're supposed to rubber stamp Ds. That's not the way the forefathers had it in mind. That's not the way government should work. Then you become a banana republic,' he said.