Politics

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.

An unofficial list circulated among diplomats on Monday. It showed ambassadors being recalled from every part of the world, with about a dozen being told to leave posts in sub-Saharan Africa. Several diplomats said the list was fairly accurate.