Trump's envoy faces protests in Venice on latest stop of super yacht diplomacy tour

U.S. Ambassador Tilman Fertitta's superyacht 'Boardwall' is docked as part of "Freedom 250 Coastal Diplomacy" tour, as protest by activists is expected this afternoon, in Venice, Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

VENICE, Italy — Several hundred protesters marched Friday against the arrival in Venice of the billionaire American ambassador’s luxury yacht, briefly clashing with riot police as they neared the vessel.

Activists described hospitality mogul Tilman Fertitta’s arrival as an unwelcome display of American wealth and influence at a time when many Italians see the Trump administration upending the post-World War II international order.

Protesters clash with police, shouting ‘Shame!"

They marched carrying inflatable water toys and beach balls behind a sign reading: “Venezia non si USA,” a play on words meaning “Venice is not to be used,” with the USA acronym capitalized.

Protesters raised their arms to show they were peaceful as they reached a double line of riot police blocking access to the super yacht, but police pushed back with their shields when the demonstrators refused to stop. Inflatable toys flew through the air. After the clash, protesters yelled “Shame!” at the ambassador, the mayor and the police.

Coastal diplomacy aboard a super yacht

Fertitta arrived in Venice earlier Friday, mooring in St. Mark’s Basin as part of a coastal diplomacy tour marking the 250th anniversary of American independence. Police boats were stationed around his yacht, which dwarfed buildings along the banks of the lagoon, and a heavy police presence accompanied the demonstrators, who carried signs reading “Make America Read Again” and “Oligarch in saor,” a reference to a Venetian specialty with sardines.

The so-called Coastal Diplomacy 250 tour of 13 Italian coastal regions on a super yacht is intended to celebrate “our shared history, our economic partnership, and the cultural bonds that make the U.S.-Italy relationship so special,” Fertitta said in a social media post.

Fertitta declined a request for an interview to discuss the tour and the planned protest, but he issued a short statement supporting the right to protest.

“I like Italians, we Americans respect freedom of speech and the right to peaceful protest; Coastal Diplomacy celebrates our nation’s founding and these fundamental rights,” Fertitta said in the statement, adding that the tour has “been an amazing way for me to meet Italians from all walks of life and to celebrate 250 years of U.S. independence and decades of friendship with Italy.”

Venice regroups against oligarchs

In Venice, many of the same groups that protested the wedding last year of Jeff Bezos to Lauren Sanchez mobilized against Fertitta’s arrival aboard the 117-metre (384-foot) luxury yacht, Boardwalk, which features two helipads, a pair of swimming pools and a fully equipped spa and gym.

On July 4, protest organizers unfurled a banner as long as Fertitta’s yacht to illustrate what the protesters called “the dimensions of his arrogance.”

“It’s arrogant to think he can do what he wants in a city that is ever more sold to the single culture of tourism,” organizer Stella Morion told The Associated Press. She said protesters are also opposed to U.S. President Donald Trump’s international politics, including U.S. strikes on Iran, which she said have prompted a spike in energy prices.

“It is the umpteenth slap in the face of a city and all of the people in Venice who struggle to reach the end of the month due to an increase in prices caused by Trump’s war,” she said.

Protesters were taken aback by the sight of the yacht, which at six stories was taller than neighboring buildings. “It’s gross,” said activist Tommaso Cacciari.

Emanuele Lepore, another activist, said the presence of the towering yacht provoked in him “first and foremost rage” after a long fight to ban cruise ships from the Giudecca Canal and historic center.

“To see such a big ship be able to stay in the lagoon of Venice is a shame,” Lepore said. “The message is rather clear: For the new oligarchs to be able to travel around and normalize war and fascism, there must be local oligarchs.”

A hospitality mogul with Italian roots

The billionaire owner of Fertitta Entertainment was sworn in as ambassador to Italy in 2025. He made his fortune in the hospitality industry, including restaurants, hotels and casinos. He also owns the NBA’s Houston Rockets. His official biography puts his net worth at US$11.3 billion, and notes that Forbes ranks him among the 100 wealthiest Americans.

Details of who Fertitta will meet while in Venice have not been released, but he is expected to attend the famed Redentore festival on Saturday, which commemorates the end of the plague in 1576 culminating with celebratory fireworks over St. Mark’s Basin.

He has already stopped over in the Sicilian port town of Cefalu, where his family’s roots trace back to 1566, and met with the governor in Palermo. Other stops have included the Calabrian port of Le Castella and he sailed along the coast of Puglia and up the Adriatic coastline en route to Venice.

Political analyst Giovanni Orsina said that the image of an ambassador sailing the Italian coast in an act of diplomacy “is pretty novel.”

“Certainly an ambassador using his own resources and his own yacht to make this kind of traveling diplomacy as far as I know is pretty unusual. It can be perceived negatively, on the one hand, but it also can be taken as a sign of attention toward the country,″ said Orsina, who is head of the political science department at Rome’s Luiss University.

Fertitta’s tenure includes navigating a cooling in the once warm relationship between Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni and Trump, who has made a series of social media attacks against her. Meloni, who was once seen as a close political ally in Europe with similar views on such issues as immigration, did not attend 250th celebrations at the U.S. Embassy.

Colleen Barry, The Associated Press