The Trump administration is recalling nearly 30 ambassadors and other senior career diplomats to ensure embassies reflect its “America First” priorities.
The decision critics said would weaken U.S. credibility abroad.
The State Department refuses to provide a list of the affected diplomats.
Nearly 30 senior diplomats were among those ordered back to Washington, according to people familiar with the matter.
A senior department official stated on Monday that the move was “a standard process in any administration,” but critics argued that this was not the case.
“An ambassador is a personal representative of the president, and it is the president’s right to ensure that he has individuals in these countries who advance the America First agenda,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
They were posted to smaller countries where the top U.S. representative has traditionally been from the Foreign Service, which is made up of career officials not aligned with a political party, the people said.
The recalled diplomats were encouraged to find new roles in the State Department, a second U.S. official said.
The American Foreign Service Association, which represents foreign service officers, stated that it was working to confirm which members had been recalled after some reported receiving phone notifications with no explanation – a process its spokesperson described as “highly irregular.”
spokesperson Nikki Gamer said in an email that “abrupt, unexplained recalls reflect the same pattern of institutional sabotage and politicisation our survey data shows is already harming morale, effectiveness, and U.S. credibility abroad”.
The State Department declined to respond to Gamer’s comments.
Politico reported on Friday that two dozen ambassadors were being told to leave their posts, citing a State Department official.
Trump has sought to place loyalists in senior roles since the start of his second term, after encountering resistance during his first term, thereby advancing his foreign policy priorities within the U.S. national security establishment.
Jeanne Shaheen, ranking Democrat on the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, assailed the Republican administration’s removal of the diplomats while about 80 ambassadorial posts remain vacant.
“President Trump is giving away U.S. leadership to China and Russia by removing qualified career Ambassadors who serve faithfully no matter who’s in power,” Shaheen posted on X.
“This makes America less safe, less strong and less prosperous.”
Veteran journalist and recipient of A.B.C Yola, Reporter of the Year Award (1997), Hassan Umar Shallpella, works with WAP as a Regional Correspondence. He was trained at Institute of Mass Communication and Technology Jos and Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, Training School Lagos.He was a News desk Editor and a Correspondent at the Punch newspaper and till 2019, was the Deputy Editor ofThe Scope newspaper.
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