December 23, 2025
The State Department, under the leadership of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, claims none of the recalled diplomats are facing punishment or being retaliated against personally as recent moves have caused a rumor of the president’s motives.
The shakeup continues with the Trump Administration, as President Donald Trump recalled close to 30 ambassadors from around the world from their posts to advance the America First agenda, Fox News reported.
A senior State Department official said the ambassadors weren’t fired but reassigned, calling it “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 in a statement.
The State Department, under the leadership of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, said none of the recalled diplomats are facing punishment or being personally retaliated against, as recent moves have sparked rumors about the president’s motives. In fact, the senior official said the decision was made to “prioritize continuity,” as Trump continues to keep operations intact and not to derail U.S. interests.
“We encourage returning ambassadors to continue serving their country by finding new opportunities within the Department to advance President Trump’s America First agenda.”
As a result, ambassadors of a country at war or amid high-stakes negotiations with the U.S. wouldn’t be recalled.
According to the Associated Press, recalled ambassadors from 29 countries were informed before the Christmas holiday that their tenures would end in January 2026, most of them having taken their posts under the Biden administration but surviving Trump’s early-stage purge.
Africa was the most affected by the recall, with ambassadors from 13 countries — Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Mauritius, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Somalia, and Uganda — being removed. Asia came in second place with changes from six countries, including Fiji, Laos, the Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, and Vietnam.
Next was Europe, with four affected countries: Armenia, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Slovakia. Middle Eastern ambassadors from Algeria and Egypt were removed, along with those from Nepal and Sri Lanka in South and Central Asia, and Guatemala and Suriname in the Western Hemisphere.
Ambassadors typically serve for up to four years at the president’s pleasure. Recalled ambassadors will return to Washington, D.C., for new assignments if they choose to accept them. Although it’s a standard practice for a sitting president to recall ambassadors, recalls of this volume don’t typically happen at once, leaving room for side-eye criticism from lawmakers and the union representing American diplomats.
Former ambassador and Assistant Secretary of State Herman J. Cohen said the recalls are alarming, in a post on X. “As a career U.S. diplomat and former assistant secretary of state for African affairs, I am alarmed by President Trump’s recall of nearly 30 career ambassadors — with Africa reportedly hit hardest. Presidents have the right to replace ambassadors, but a wholesale change of this magnitude is, as the American Foreign Service Association calls it, ‘highly irregular,” he wrote.
“Those who make serving America their career can do so across multiple presidencies. I hope the administration has plans to deploy qualified people to every post – and that those who are being recalled are at least offered positions where their decades of experience will continue to serve our goals.”
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