US President Donald Trump is looking to cut costs by scaling back its diplomatic presence around the world. According to Trump's plan, nearly 30 embassies and consulates worldwide will be closed, many of them in Africa.

This is evident from a draft executive decree, whose contents were published by the New York Times. It envisions a complete structural State Department overhaul by October 1. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, however, promptly dismissed the reported plan as "fake news" on X, formerly Twitter.

"Appointments of ambassadors by the Trump administration is not a priority," says Alex Vines, who heads the Africa program at London's Chatham House think tank. "So far there have been three ambassadors on the African continent nominated by the Trump administration: for South Africa, for Morocco and for Tunisia. All the others either have existing ambassadors still serving or vacancies."

In some cases, diplomats have been appointed acting ambassadors until it becomes clear what the Trump administration plans to do with the respective embassy.

A glance at the American Foreign Service Association shows that there are currently no entries for smaller countries but also none for larger, economy powerful countries like Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, and Ethiopia. It is unclear who will represent the US in these countries going forward.

The plan is to........

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