2 weeks ago
9
You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.
A union representing career diplomats said such a mass recall had never happened in the history of the U.S. Foreign Service.
Dec. 22, 2025
The Trump administration has ordered nearly 30 ambassadors in embassies around the world to return to the United States within weeks, a move that would leave a large gap in the American diplomatic corps even as President Trump has said he wants to resolve conflicts through diplomacy.
Many of the ambassadors were told in recent days to leave their posts by mid-January. They are all foreign service officers who had been appointed to their positions by the Biden administration and confirmed by the Senate. A standard tour is three to four years.
The union representing career diplomats said this was the first time that such a mass recall had taken place of career diplomats serving as ambassadors or chiefs of mission.
“Those affected report being notified abruptly, typically by phone, with no explanation provided,” said Nikki Gamer, a spokeswoman for the union that represents career diplomats, the American Foreign Service Association. “That method is highly irregular.”
“The lack of transparency and process breaks sharply with longstanding norms,” she added.
Ms. Gamer said that after checking its archives, the union “can say definitively that such a mass recall has never happened since the founding of the Foreign Service as we know it.”
Candidates for ambassador are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. There are two types of ambassadors: career diplomats and political appointees. The latter are often donors or friends of the president, and they are expected to offer their resignations at the start of a new administration. That was the case when Mr. Trump took office in January, and he immediately accepted the resignations.
