Steve Goldstein (diplomat)


Irwin Steven Goldstein is a former American diplomat, government official and businessman who served as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs during the Trump Administration and Assistant to the Secretary and Director of Public Affairs at the United States Department of the Interior during the George H. W. Bush Administration. He is also a former Dow Jones and Company Vice President, running global communications for Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal. He is currently Chief Marketing Officer at the Long-Term Stock Exchange, a new stock exchange based in San Francisco, California.

Early years

Irwin Steven Goldstein was born to Bernie and Sandra Goldstein of Nashville, Tennessee. Goldstein graduated from the University School of Nashville. He attended and graduated from the University of Arizona, where he earned a bachelor's degree in political science and education. After college, he worked as a schoolteacher.

Private sector career

Goldstein served as senior vice president of BP Global Solutions.
Goldstein was employed at Dow Jones/The Wall Street Journal, where he was vice president of corporate communications.
Goldstein worked at TIAA for seven years, serving as its executive vice president and chief communications officer. He stepped down from the position as of September 30, 2010.
He is currently Chief Marketing Officer at the Long-Term Stock Exchange, a San Francisco start-up, which is building a new U.S. stock exchange that aims to align the interests of companies and long-term investors and improve the public company experience.

Public sector career

Goldstein spent eight years working as a press secretary and chief of staff for several members of Congress, including Manuel Lujan and Ronald Machtley.
When President George H.W. Bush appointed Lujan the U.S. Secretary of Interior, Goldstein was hired to work as his spokesperson. Goldstein's official titles at the U.S. Department of the Interior were Assistant to the Secretary and Director of Public Affairs.
President Donald Trump nominated Goldstein to Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, the State Department’s top official that "leads America's public diplomacy outreach" by "informing and influencing foreign publics and by expanding and strengthening the relationship between the people and Government of the United States and citizens of the rest of the world," according to the department. Moira Whelan, who served as the deputy assistant secretary for digital strategy at the State Department during the Obama administration, said Goldstein would be a "key player in the effort to push back against Russian disinformation efforts around the world and in the United States." Goldstein was unanimously confirmed by the Senate, and he was sworn into position on December 4, 2017.
Shortly after President Trump dismissed Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on March 13, 2018, Goldstein released a statement that Tillerson did not know why he had been fired and that Tillerson had only learned of his firing that morning from Trump's tweet. Goldstein's statement was seen as contradicting the official account of Tillerson's dismissal, and Goldstein was fired from his position. According to Axios, Goldstein was disliked in the White House "and seen as openly anti-Trump."