The Trump administration has begun recalling nearly 30 career diplomats from ambassadorial and other senior embassy posts, including the United States ambassador to Sri Lanka, as part of a broader effort to reshape Washington’s diplomatic posture in line with President Donald Trump’s “America First” agenda.
According to two State Department officials, chiefs of mission in at least 29 countries were informed last week that their assignments would end in January. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal personnel decisions.
All of the affected diplomats were appointed during the Biden administration and had initially survived an early shake-up in the opening months of Trump’s second term, which largely targeted political appointees. That changed on Wednesday, when notices of their imminent departures began arriving from Washington.
While ambassadors serve at the pleasure of the president, they typically remain in their posts for three to four years. The diplomats affected by the move are not being dismissed from the foreign service and may return to Washington for other assignments if they choose, the officials said.
The State Department declined to confirm the exact number of ambassadors involved or identify those affected, but defended the move as routine. It described the changes as “a standard process in any administration,” noting that an ambassador is “a personal representative of the president” and that it is the president’s prerogative to ensure envoys advance the America First agenda.
Africa has been hit hardest by the shake-up, with ambassadors being recalled from 13 countries: Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Mauritius, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Somalia and Uganda.
Asia follows, with changes affecting six countries: Fiji, Laos, the Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and Vietnam.
Four European countries—Armenia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Slovakia—are also affected. In addition, two countries each in the Middle East (Algeria and Egypt), South and Central Asia (Nepal and Sri Lanka), and the Western Hemisphere (Guatemala and Suriname) will see ambassadorial changes.
