The Trump administration is recalling dozens of ambassadors appointed under the Biden administration as part of a broad reshuffle aimed at aligning the diplomatic corps with its foreign policy priorities.
Most of the affected heads of mission are career diplomats who have been told to leave their posts by mid-January, according to the American Foreign Service Association, which represents State Department employees.
Press reports said ambassadors from about 30 countries, particularly in Africa, will be affected. The recalls were first reported by Politico.
While it is customary for a new administration to reshuffle ambassadors in strategic posts or to replace political appointees, such a sweeping move involving career diplomats before their terms end or successors are named is unusual.
The association said it had received “credible reports from our members in diplomatic posts around the world that multiple career ambassadors, appointed during the Biden administration, have been directed by phone call to vacate their posts by January 15 or 16.”
“No explanation was given for these recalls,” the association said in a Facebook post.
“Removing senior diplomats without cause undermines US credibility abroad and sends a chilling signal to the professional Foreign Service: experience and an oath to the Constitution take a backseat to political loyalty,” it added.
A senior State Department official said Monday that changing ambassadors was “a standard process in any administration.”
“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 official said on condition of anonymity.
The official did not confirm details of the recalls or identify the countries involved.
In his second term, President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have overhauled U.S. diplomacy, focusing on priorities such as combating illegal immigration, cutting foreign aid and scaling back diversity policies. Rubio has overseen the dismissal of hundreds of State Department personnel, and Trump has installed loyalists in key ambassadorial posts.