President Trump’s team recalled nearly 30 senior career diplomats Monday, swapping them out for loyalists to laser-focus U.S. embassies on “America First” priorities targeting posts in smaller nations where non-partisan Foreign Service pros traditionally hold sway, a move State Dept calls routine but critics blast as morale-crushing politicization that hands wins to China and Russia.
A senior official defended it as the prez’s right to pick personal reps who push his agenda, urging recalled vets to snag new DC gigs while the American Foreign Service Association fumed over abrupt phone notices sans explanation, warning of sabotaged credibility abroad amid Trump’s grudge-match with first-term resistance from the national security old guard.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen slammed the purge as leadership giveaway with 80 posts still vacant, eroding U.S. safety and strength echoing Politico leaks of two dozen axed ambassadors, proving Trump’s second-term vow to stack foreign policy decks with ride-or-dies despite the backlash.
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