New Delhi: US President Donald J. Trump has sought to stamp his authority further on American diplomacy by recalling a number of career diplomats from their current postings, according to local media reports.
A number of diplomats from regions such as East Asia and the Pacific have been recalled via phone calls with no reasons given, reported Politico Friday. Roughly two dozen career ambassadors have been asked to return to Washington, the news organisation reported.
The recall is reported to impact personnel at the US missions in India as well. Earlier this month, Jorgan K. Andrews, the deputy chief of mission at the US embassy in New Delhi is reported to have been asked to step down, according to The Economic Times.
Andrews is a Senior Foreign Service Officer in the US State Department with over 29 years of work experience, and speaks Russian, Spanish and some Ukrainian. Andrews arrived in India in August 2024. A number of personnel changes are expected at the US Embassy in New Delhi as Ambassador Sergio Gor is set to take over the mission in the middle of January, according to the Indian newspaper.
The latest changes in the State Department take aim at long-term officials and not the political appointees, who generally serve at the pleasure of the President. Gor, a political appointee, was confirmed by the Senate earlier this year.
His predecessor Eric Garcetti is a former Democratic mayor of Los Angeles and was a political appointee proposed by former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and confirmed by the US Senate in March 2023 and presented his credentials to President Droupadi Murmu in May of that year.
Garcetti resigned from his post on 20 January—the day Trump was inaugurated—as is the norm when it comes to political diplomatic appointments. The incumbent US President has made a number of diplomatic appointments this year including appointing Former Governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee as the US Ambassador to Israel, Charles Kushner as Ambassador to France and Monaco and Callista Gingrich as Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
Normally, career diplomats are allowed to continue in their posts as it is believed they will carry out their work as professionals regardless of the individual in the White House, according to Politico.
“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 State Department has said on the recalls, as reported by Politico.
At the roughly 190 missions of the US, Trump has so far made 70 appointments, 64 of which are political appointees and six as career diplomats, the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) notes.
Few of the envoys appointed by the previous president continue in their roles, leaving around eight-odd missions without an ambassador, according to Politico. The Trump administration has also focused on reorganising the State Department, with over 1,300 employees laid off earlier this year, according to reports. Furthermore, USAID, the foreign aid arm of the government, has been absorbed by the State Department, with the Trump administration slashing billions in foreign aid.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
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