From Daily Caller: President Donald Trump’s administration reportedly ordered a number of career ambassadors to leave their overseas posts as part of a sweeping effort to align U.S. diplomacy with his “America First” agenda.
Two State Department officials told The Associated Press (AP) that mission chiefs in no less than 29 countries received notices beginning on Dec. 17 informing them their tenures would end in January. The officials spoke anonymously to address internal personnel matters. The New York Post also reported on the move
The recalled diplomats had all assumed their positions during former President Joe Biden’s administration, though they were not part of a mass recall early in Trump’s second term that primarily targeted political appointees, the AP reported. A State Department official called the move “standard” in a statement to the Post.
The State Department explained that the recalls are a “standard process,”
“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,” the department said.
Politico reports:
John Dinkelman, president of the American Foreign Service Association, the diplomats’ union, said the group had been getting anecdotal reports from ambassadors as far afield as East Asia and the Pacific who were told via phone calls that they had to be gone by Jan. 15 or Jan. 16. The envoys were not given a reason.
[…]
While it is normal for new presidents to replace political appointees serving as ambassadors, career diplomats are typically allowed to continue serving because it is understood that, by virtue of being in the Foreign Service, they will carry out the wishes of whoever is in the White House regardless of political party.
But the Trump administration has had little trust in the career ranks at the State Department. Its officials have called the State Department a bastion of liberalism, and the administration has already pushed out thousands of department employees.
Read more at Daily Caller
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