Vacancies and back channels reshape US diplomacy under Trump

WASHINGTON: A widening number of vacant ambassadorial posts, staff cuts at the State Department and growing reliance on informal channels have left allies struggling to interpret and respond to the United States under President Donald Trump, according to a Reuters report carried by Dawn.

The strain was laid bare on April 7, when Trump warned Iran that a whole civilisation will die tonight. A European diplomat in Washington said his government urgently sought to determine whether the US president was contemplating the use of a nuclear weapon. The diplomat added that European officials also feared Russia could use the moment to justify similar threats in Ukraine, potentially creating a nuclear crisis on two fronts.

According to the diplomat, European governments turned to the US State Department for clarification, but officials there said they did not know what Trump meant or what his remarks might signal. The episode reflected a broader weakening of traditional American diplomatic channels at a time when governments in Europe and Asia are seeking clarity on major US policy moves.

Margaret MacMillan, an Oxford University professor of international history, said the administration was weakening Washington’s ability to understand the international environment in which it operates, increasing the risk of instability.

“We’re not going to be able to use diplomacy as we have often done before: to build relationships, get agreements that benefit both sides, and avert and end wars.”

The Trump administration rejected the suggestion that US diplomacy is breaking down. Tommy Pigott, a State Department spokesperson, said the changes had improved efficiency and tightened decision-making.

“The president has the right to determine who represents the American people and interests around the world,”

The Reuters account cited interviews with more than 50 senior diplomats, White House officials and recently retired ambassadors, along with dozens of foreign officials, diplomats and lawmakers across Europe and Asia.

Shift to informal access

Foreign governments are increasingly redesigning their approach to Washington by focusing on a small group of people seen as having direct access to Trump, rather than relying on embassies or formal diplomatic structures. Some allies, it said, now treat the president’s rhetoric as background noise.

That approach was evident after Trump’s threat against Iran. Officials in Britain, France and Germany drafted what one European diplomat described as a harsh joint statement later the same day, but decided not to issue it. They concluded that Trump’s language was bluster and that a public rebuke might encourage him to continue the bombing. By evening, Trump had announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran. The foreign ministries of Britain, France and Germany did not reply to requests for comment.

Reuters said two figures have become especially prominent in this informal system: Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and longtime friend Steve Witkoff, a real estate developer with no previous diplomatic experience. Some foreign governments now give priority to communication with them over official channels. Kushner has no formal government title, and neither he nor Witkoff responded to requests for comment.

South Korean officials bypassed US trade negotiators and built ties with White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles as they pushed back against Trump’s 25 per cent tariffs. Japan, it added, found an intermediary in SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son, described as one of Trump’s golfing partners.

State Department cuts and embassy gaps

The State Department was identified in the report as an early target in Trump’s second term. In April 2025, Secretary of State Marco Rubio called it a bloated bureaucracy gripped by radical political ideology and announced a comprehensive reorganisation plan. Reuters said the effort had been foreshadowed in Project 2025, a policy blueprint published in 2023 by the Heritage Foundation that called for a leaner department, more political appointees and the removal of career ambassadors seen as hostile to the administration.

About 3,000 employees left the State Department last year, with nearly half dismissed and the rest taking buyouts, amounting to an approximately 15pc reduction in its US-based workforce. Rubio later ordered the recall of about 30 ambassadors worldwide in December.

Rubio had said last year that the overhaul would empower the department from the ground up, from the bureaus to the embassies. But Reuters, citing the American Foreign Service Association, reported that 109 of 195 US ambassadorial posts worldwide are now vacant. A White House official said the changes had made the government more efficient, less bloated and better able to carry out the president’s foreign policy.

The reduced diplomatic footprint is especially visible around Iran. Five of the seven countries bordering Iran and four of the six Gulf states do not currently have a US ambassador. Many embassies are being led by chargés d’affaires instead of Senate-confirmed ambassadors, which some countries view as a lowering of diplomatic standing.

Former US ambassadors and State Department officials told Reuters that the thinner diplomatic presence contributed to a disorderly effort to evacuate Americans from the region after Trump began the Iran war. Barbara Leaf, a retired career diplomat who served as US ambassador to the United Arab Emirates during Trump’s first term and later as assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs under President Joe Biden, said those missions should have had ambassadors in place during wartime.

“Those missions should all have ambassadors when you’re fighting a war,”

“At a moment of crisis — and it’s an open-ended crisis — this administration has left these missions in a parlous state.”

Pigott said US embassies had performed well during the Iran war and were more than appropriately staffed.

Kyiv ambassador’s account

The report also highlighted the experience of Bridget Brink, who was serving as US ambassador to Kyiv when Trump returned to office. In March 2025, days after Trump’s tense White House encounter with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the United States halted military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine.

Brink said the suspended assistance included air defence munitions that were helping protect not only Ukrainians but also US embassy personnel from Russian drones and missiles.

“I had 1,000 people, all civilians, on the ground,” Brink said in an interview. “And we were protected by Ukrainians using US and other equipment.”

She said the suspension came without warning and that attempts to get an explanation were unsuccessful.

“When we tried to find out why it was stopped, we got no answer.”

Brink contacted the Pentagon, the State Department and the White House because of concern over what the move meant for the safety of personnel on the ground.