The administration of President Donald Trump has launched a sweeping recall of career U.S. ambassadors and senior diplomats from overseas missions, affecting nearly 30 sitting heads of diplomatic posts worldwide. The move targets professional foreign service officers who traditionally retain their positions across changes in administration. According to media reports, recall notices were delivered individually, without public explanation and without simultaneous announcements of successors.
The recalls span embassies in Africa, the Indo-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America—including countries of strategic importance to U.S. competition with China and Russia. The State Department has described the move as standard practice and part of aligning the diplomatic service with the America First agenda; critics, however, argue that both the scale and the procedures are without precedent in recent U.S. history.
Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee have urged President Donald Trump to halt the recall of nearly 30 career ambassadors worldwide, warning that the step could pose direct risks to U.S. national security. In their assessment, the mass removal of experienced diplomats would create a leadership vacuum that Russia and China would be ready to exploit swiftly.
Senators noted that even before the latest decision, 80 ambassadorial posts were already vacant, according to data from the American Foreign Service Association, which represents employees of the U.S. foreign affairs apparatus. In a letter published on Wednesday, Democrats said that if the recalls proceed, more than half of U.S. diplomatic missions worldwide would be left without ambassadors.
“As more than 100 U.S. embassies stripped of senior leadership await the appointment of new American ambassadors, China, Russia, and other countries will maintain regular engagement with foreign leaders we have effectively abandoned—allowing our adversaries to expand their presence and influence in ways that constrain and even harm U.S. interests,” the letter said.
Formally, all ambassadors serve at the president’s discretion and can be recalled at any time. In practice, however, career diplomats typically remain in their posts across changes in administration. In their letter, senators described the scale of the current recall as “unprecedented.”
The American Foreign Service Association said affected diplomats were notified by phone and given no explanation. “This method is highly atypical,” the organization said. “Career diplomats and ambassadors are not usually recalled in this manner. The lack of transparency and procedure sharply departs from established norms.”
At the same time, a senior State Department official characterized the move as a “standard process” for any administration. According to the official, “the president has the right to ensure that people advancing the America First agenda are serving in these countries.”
The State Department has not released a list of embassies subject to recall, but the move is expected to encompass missions worldwide, including the Indo-Pacific, Africa, and Europe. “In the Indo-Pacific, a recall of this scale signals a U.S. pullback from a region that accounts for half of the world’s population, nearly two-thirds of the global economy, and several potential flashpoints for security crises,” the senators said. “Across Africa, the decision effectively hands Moscow and Beijing an open opportunity to advance their economic and military interests on the world’s fastest-growing continent.”
The ambassadorial recalls followed the dismissal of more than 1 300 State Department employees in July—part of a broader campaign to restructure the department in line with the Trump administration’s priorities.