The United States will recall its ambassador from Cameroon and other diplomats from at least 29 countries, including 13 in Africa, as part of a foreign service reshuffle under President Donald Trump’s “America First” doctrine, according to U.S. officials and media reports.

Chiefs of mission for the affected countries have been informed that their tenures will end in January 2026, U.S.-based publication Politico first reported. The Guardian and other international outlets, including France’s Le Figaro, later cited two unnamed State Department officials confirming the moves.

The diplomats, mostly career foreign service officers appointed under former President Joe Biden, began receiving departure notifications last week, according to those reports. They were not affected by an earlier wave of removals at the start of Trump’s second term, which reportedly targeted political appointees.

The U.S. State Department confirmed the reshuffle to pan-African channel Africanews but did not specify the exact number or identities of diplomats affected. It called the process “standard in any administration.”

“An ambassador is a personal representative of the president,” the department stated, adding that it is the president’s prerogative “to ensure he has people in these countries who are advancing the America First agenda.”

The recalled diplomats will not lose their foreign service status and will be reassigned to Washington or other posts if they accept, the same sources said.

In Cameroon, the decision concerns Ambassador Christopher J. Lamora. A career diplomat, he was nominated by Biden on April 15, 2021, confirmed by the Senate on Dec. 18, 2021, and sworn in on Feb. 11, 2022. An Africa specialist, Lamora has nearly 30 years of experience on the continent and previously served in Cameroon early in his career.

“I am so happy to return to this beautiful country, Africa in miniature, where my diplomatic career began nearly 30 years ago at the U.S. consulate in Douala,” Lamora said on March 21, 2022, when presenting a copy of his credentials to Cameroonian Foreign Minister Lejeune Mbella Mbella. His recall marks the end of a posting aligned with the Biden administration’s Africa policy, which emphasized security, health, democracy and economic cooperation.

Future diplomats expected to replace the recalled ambassadors are likely to be chosen from those seen as fully aligned with Trump’s “America First” policy, signalling a move to assert political control over U.S. diplomatic posts.

The reshuffle marks a new phase in diplomatic relations between Yaounde and Washington, amid a broader international realignment of geopolitical balances in Africa and beyond.

Source: Sbbc