Jeffrey Ross Gunter

Gunter graduated from Beverly Hills High School.^[6] He received his Bachelor of Arts in psychology from the University of California, Berkeley in 1983 and his Doctor of Medicine degree from the USC School of Medicine in 1987.^[7]

Gunter completed his residency in 1991 at the Los Angeles General Medical Center, where he served as the chief resident of dermatology.^[6]

In addition to practicing dermatology, Gunter served as a Clinical Professor of Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.^[6]

During his 2024 Senate campaign, NBC News reported that Gunter's medical practice had received a number of very negative reviews on customer feedback sites.^[8] Gunter was also named as a defendant in two medical malpractice lawsuits filed in California in the mid-2000s: both were settled.^[8] According to his campaign, neither case involved patients he personally treated.^[8]

On August 21, 2018, Trump nominated Gunter to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Iceland.^[6] The Senate took no action on the nomination, which expired on January 3, 2019, at the end of the 115th Congress.^[9] Trump then renominated Gunter on January 16, 2019, at the outset of the 116th Congress. On May 23, 2019, following a hearing in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Gunter was confirmed by the Senate by voice vote.^[10] Gunter presented his credentials on July 2, 2019.^[3]

Gunter had never visited Iceland prior to his nomination to the ambassadorship.^[11]

In July 2020, CBS News reported that Gunter was "paranoid" about his security in the Icelandic capital, Reykjavík, despite its status as one of the world's safest cities. Gunter asked the State Department to seek special permission from the Icelandic government for him to carry a gun, had requested to wear a "stab-proof vest" and have door-to-door armored car service.^[12] Three diplomatic sources interviewed by CBS News said that Gunter was persuaded not to arm himself because doing so would be perceived as insulting to Iceland; the embassy nevertheless placed an advertisement in the Icelandic press seeking full-time Icelandic bodyguards, which CBS News' sources described as a way to "placate Gunter's 'irrational' concerns."^[12]

According to those interviewed by CBS News, the work climate at the Embassy in Reykjavík was "untenable" under Gunter's leadership. In fewer than two years on the job, Gunter had seven deputy chiefs of mission (DCMs). (The deputy chief of mission is the second-highest position at the embassy.)^[12] One DCM was reportedly rejected by Gunter because the ambassador "didn't like the look of him" at their first meeting.^[12] The second DCM spent only six months in Iceland, and was followed a series of short-term temporary DCMs with whom Gunter reportedly clashed.^[12] CBS News also reported that Gunter "accused others of various, unsubstantiated infractions, including trying to undermine him to Washington and being complicit with the 'deep state.'"^[12]

In February 2020, after taking personal leave after a conference in Washington, Gunter refused to return to his post in Reykjavík. The State Department attributed Gunter's delayed return to Iceland to the COVID-19 pandemic; however, "multiple sources in Washington, Reykjavík, and elsewhere said Gunter wanted to work remotely from California and told senior officials he would not go back overseas unless expressly ordered to do so by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo".^[12] A series of senior State Department officials failed to persuade Gunter to return. After Pompeo called him, Gunter returned to Iceland in May 2020.^[12] Gunter is controversial in Iceland, with many objecting to his description of COVID-19 as "the Invisible China Virus!" on Twitter.^[12]

In 2021, the State Department's Office of the Inspector General released a report indicating that Gunter had created a "threatening and intimidating environment" at the embassy.^[13]