Donald Trump removes 29 career diplomats from ambassadorial positions including US Ambassador in Colombo

The Trump administration is recalling almost 30 career diplomats from their roles as ambassadors and other senior positions in embassies, including the U.S. Ambassador in Colombo, Sri Lanka. This move is part of an effort to align U.S. diplomatic staff with President Donald Trump's "America First" agenda. Last week, the heads of missions in at least 29 countries were notified that their assignments would end in January. This information came from two State Department officials who wished to remain unnamed due to the sensitive nature of the changes. These diplomats had originally been appointed during the Biden administration but had managed to stay on after an earlier round of cuts that primarily affected political appointees at the start of Trump’s second term. On Wednesday, they began receiving notifications from Washington about their upcoming departures. Although ambassadors serve at the discretion of the president, they usually hold their positions for three to four years. The diplomats impacted by this change will not lose their jobs in the foreign service; instead, they can return to Washington for other roles if they choose to do so. The State Department did not specify how many ambassadors were affected but defended the changes as a standard procedure for any administration. They emphasized that ambassadors are personal representatives of the president, who has the right to appoint individuals that support the America First policy in various countries. The continent most impacted is Africa, with 13 ambassadors being removed from their posts in countries such as Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Mauritius, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Somalia, and Uganda. Asia follows with changes in six countries: Fiji, Laos, the Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Additionally, four European countries, Armenia, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Slovakia, are also affected. The Middle East is seeing changes in Algeria and Egypt, while Nepal and Sri Lanka in South and Central Asia, and Guatemala and Suriname in the Western Hemisphere are also impacted.