President Donald Trump is pursuing an ambitious foreign-policy agenda, which ranges from regime change in Iran to peacemaking in Ukraine. Normally U.S. ambassadors would be on the frontlines of such efforts. Yet in December, the Trump administration recalled more than two dozen career ambassadors, and it has been slow to fill vacancies. The result is that the U.S. lacks ambassadors in such important countries as Brazil, Egypt, Germany, Indonesia, Iraq, Pakistan, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates.
Even more troublesome, however, might be the behavior of the ambassadors who are in place. Rather than promoting U.S. interests, many of Trump’s mini-me envoys are alienating their host countries by insulting critics and offending local sensibilities.
Take U.S. ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who caused an uproar during a podcast with Tucker Carlson last month. The host asked if the Bible gave the descendants of Abraham — i.e., the Jewish people — the right to control much of the modern Middle East. Huckabee’s response: “It would be fine if they took it all.”
The ambassador added: “They’re not asking to go back and take all of that, but they are asking to at least take the land that they now occupy.” But even the caveat is concerning, since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government views the entire West Bank as Israeli territory and is now moving to take control of Palestinian land with the U.S. Embassy’s connivance.
A host of Islamic countries — including close allies the administration is trying to enlist in a coalition to rebuild Gaza and to oppose the Iranian regime — issued a statement calling Huckabee’s remarks “dangerous and inflammatory.” Evidently in response, Secretary of State Marco Rubio instructed ambassadors in the region “to avoid all commentary on issues that could heighten tensions or create confusion about US policy.”
Yet the directive doesn’t seem to apply to Europe — a regular target of the administration’s ire, even though the administration now needs the use of European bases to fight Iran. Charles Kushner, the father of Trump’s son-in-law and a convicted felon whom the president pardoned in 2020, has already caused two kerfuffles in less than a year as ambassador to France.
In August, Kushner published in the Wall Street Journal an open letter to French President Emmanuel Macron expressing “deep concern over the dramatic rise of antisemitism in France and the lack of sufficient action by your government to confront it.” The French foreign ministry called his accusations “unacceptable” and summoned him for a dressing-down.
Then last month came news that a far-right French activist had died in a brawl with far-left activists in Lyon. The U.S. embassy in Paris responded by writing on Xthat “violent left-wing extremism is on the rise” and that “should concern us all.” The French government viewed this as interference in its internal affairs and summoned Kushner to explain himself. In a breach of protocol, he did not show up. Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot responded by barring Kushner from meeting with French government officials — the crux of an ambassador’s job.
Tom Rose, a former right-wing talk-radio host who is now ambassador to Poland, also aims to offend. On Feb. 5, Rose announced on X that the U.S. government would “have no further dealings, contacts, or communications” with Wlodzimierz Czarzasty, speaker of the lower house of Parliament, because of his “outrageous and unprovoked insults” against Trump.
What did Czarzasty say? Merely that Trump “does not deserve the Nobel Peace Prize” because he uses force in violation of international law. In response to Rose’s temper tantrum, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on social media: “Mr Ambassador Rose, allies should respect each other, not lecture each other.”
Yet when it comes to needlessly needling allies, Rose is not the worst offender. U.S. ambassador to Belgium, Bill White, a prodigious fundraiser for Trump, says, “Hold my Stella Artois.” On Feb. 16, White took to X to condemn Belgium’s investigation of three Jewish mohels for circumcising infants; in Belgium, medical procedures can only be performed by licensed practitioners.
Sounding as if he were an imperial envoy, White lectured the country in imitation of his boss: “YOU MUST DROP THE RIDICULOUS AND ANTI SEMITIC ‘PROSECUTION’ NOW OF THE 3 JEWISH RELIGIOUS FIGURES (MOHELS) IN ANTWERP!” He then insulted the “very rude” Belgian health minister and borrowed Trump’s signature close: “Thank you for your immediate attention to this matter!”
Belgium’s foreign minister responded on X: “Personal attacks against a Belgian minister and interference in judicial matters violate basic diplomatic norms.” Yet only a few days later, White was at it again. This time, he attacked Conner Rousseau, leader of a center-left party, for comparing Trump’s crackdown on immigration to Nazi-era tactics. White announced that Rousseau would be banned from entering the United States — a threat he eventually retracted.
In some cases, Trump’s appointees aren’t even waiting to be confirmed before causing diplomatic incidents. Billy Long, a former congressman and IRS commissioner nominated as ambassador to Iceland, had to apologize after joking that Iceland would become “the 52nd state.” (The 51st, presumably, is Greenland.)
Stacey Feinberg, a fundraiser turned ambassador to Luxembourg, caused an uproar during her confirmation hearing when she complained that Luxembourgers don’t “really understand yet what is going on” with the threat from China. She vowed “to educate” them about the evils of “Lucifer,” thereby insulting two countries at once.
Winston Churchill never actually said that Secretary of State John Foster Dulles was “the only bull I know who carries his china shop with him,” but the witticism perfectly applies to many of these envoys. Their attempts to blame European leaders for rising antisemitism are particularly rich in light of Trump’s endorsing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has a long history of exploiting antisemitic tropes.
Though their offensive antics might delight Trump, these Ugly Americans further alienate vital allies. Even in Poland, one of the most pro-American nations in the world, a majority of respondents in a recent poll said the U.S. is no longer a reliable ally.
Trump does enough damage to America’s reputation by himself. He doesn’t need help from his undiplomatic diplomats in alienating the rest of the world.
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