Agency Report
The United States would drastically reduce its diplomatic footprint in Africa and scrap State Department offices dealing with climate change, democracy, and human rights, according to a draft White House order.
The executive order, framed as a strategy to cut costs while “reflecting the priorities” of the White House, also outlines measures to slash US soft power around the world.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said The New York Times, which first reported the existence of the draft order, had fallen “victim to another hoax.”
“This is fake news,” Rubio posted on Sunday via X.
However, a copy of the draft viewed by AFP calls for a “full structural reorganisation” of the State Department by 1 October this year.
The aim, the draft states, is “to streamline mission delivery, project American strength abroad, cut waste, fraud, abuse, and align the Department with an America First Strategic Doctrine.”
The biggest change would be organising US diplomatic efforts into four regions: Eurasia, the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia-Pacific — with no equivalent focus on Africa.
The current Africa Bureau would be eliminated. In its place would be a “Special Envoy Office for African Affairs” reporting directly to the White House’s internal National Security Council, rather than the State Department.
“All non-essential embassies and consulates in Sub-Saharan Africa shall be closed,” the draft says, with all remaining missions consolidated under a special envoy “using targeted, mission-driven deployments.”
Emphasis in Africa would shift towards counterterrorism and the “strategic extraction and trade of critical natural resources.”
The US footprint in Canada — a historic US ally that President Donald Trump has repeatedly suggested should be annexed and made a 51st state — would also be downgraded.
The diplomatic presence there would be “significantly reduced”, and the embassy in Ottawa would “significantly downscale.”
Tom Yazdgerdi, president of the American Foreign Service Association, which represents US diplomats, said officers support making the government more efficient, but this “looks like a hatchet job.”
“It looks like we’re pulling back from the world,” he said.
The plan would impose sweeping cuts to American soft power and weaken participation in multilateral organisations.
While the draft executive order obtained by AFP has not been discussed publicly by officials, it follows a series of moves to cut long-standing US initiatives and question traditional alliances, including NATO.
An earlier leaked plan would have slashed the State Department’s entire budget by half.
Although unconfirmed, the State Department did announce last week that it had shut down an agency built to track and combat aggressive disinformation campaigns run by foreign governments.
The administration has also already dismantled USAID, the US government’s foreign aid arm.
The new draft order proposes eliminating current offices dealing with climate change, oceans, global criminal justice, and human rights. Also on the scrap list is the State Department’s separate office for Afghan women and girls.
A decades-old programme to project US cultural and English-language influence globally would also be partly dismantled.
The Fulbright programme, which funds research and teaching scholarships for Americans abroad and brings foreign students to US institutions, would see many of these opportunities vanish.
This follows Trump’s ongoing dismantling of Voice of America, the broadcast network targeting audiences in repressive countries.
Yazdgerdi criticised what he called a “self-inflicted wound” for the United States.
Soft power, he said, is “what showcases America. This is the inspiring element. Yes, there’s a fearful element in that we have an awesome military, and you need that of course, but this is what inspires people.”
“You’re basically ceding the field to countries that have no issue filling the void — Russia and China immediately spring to mind.”
AFP
