Sunday, 21 December 2025 07:43 PM EST
The Trump administration has recalled nearly 30 career diplomats from ambassadorial and other senior embassy posts as it moves to reshape U.S. diplomatic posture abroad with personnel deemed fully supportive of President Donald Trump’s “America First” priorities.
According to two State Department officials speaking on condition of anonymity, the chiefs of mission in at least 29 countries were informed last week that their tenures would end in January.
All of them had assumed their posts during the Biden administration but survived an initial purge in the early months of Trump’s second term that targeted mainly political appointees. That changed on Wednesday when they began receiving notices from Washington officials about their imminent departures.
Ambassadors serve at the pleasure of the president and typically remain at their posts for three to four years. Officials stated those affected by the shake-up are not losing their foreign service jobs but will return to Washington for other assignments if they choose.
The State Department declined to specify exact numbers or ambassadors impacted, but defended the changes as “a standard process in any administration.” It noted that an ambassador is “a personal representative of the president and it is the president’s right to ensure he has individuals in these countries who advance the America First agenda.”
Africa is the continent most affected by the removals, with ambassadors from 13 nations being recalled: Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Mauritius, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Somalia, and Uganda.
Asia follows as the second most impacted region, with ambassadorial changes affecting six countries: Fiji, Laos, the Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, and Vietnam.
Four European nations—Armenia, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Slovakia—are affected by the recalls; two each in the Middle East (Algeria and Egypt), South and Central Asia (Nepal and Sri Lanka), and the Western Hemisphere (Guatemala and Suriname).
The move has drawn concern from some lawmakers and the union representing American diplomats.
