Trump’s draft order proposes radical overhaul of State Department and foreign diplomacy

The Trump administration is circulating a draft executive order that would gut the US State Department, eliminate major diplomatic arms, and shut down missions in large parts of the world—including Africa and Canada.

If signed, the proposal would amount to the most sweeping reorganisation of the State Department since its founding in 1789, dramatically slashing America’s diplomatic footprint and signalling an even deeper retreat from the multilateral order Washington helped build in the 20th century, Bloomberg reported citing the copy of a 16-page document it obtained.

The draft order, already in circulation among diplomats stationed abroad, calls for the dismantling of entire bureaus— those overseeing climate policy, refugee coordination, international organisations, global women’s issues and democracy promotion. The Bureau of African Affairs and the office liaising with the United Nations are among those marked for elimination.

The document sets an aggressive timeline: the changes would take effect by October 1.

Canada downgraded, embassies in Africa shuttered

In a move that has startled foreign policy observers, the proposal calls for the effective downgrading of diplomatic relations with Canada. Oversight would fall under a “significantly reduced team” within a newly proposed North American Affairs Office reporting directly to the Secretary of State. The US embassy in Ottawa would see a substantial reduction in staffing.

Across Sub-Saharan Africa, an unspecified number of embassies and consulates deemed “non-essential” would be closed entirely. The plan would collapse the current structure into four broad regional bureaus—Indo-Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East and Eurasia— streamlining what officials described as an “overly diffuse and inconsistent” network of international operations.

Foreign service officers would be assigned to regions for the duration of their careers, ending the traditional model of global rotations. Those unwilling to join the new regional system have until September 30 to opt for a buyout.

Fulbright restricted, DEI programs axed

The overhaul extends far beyond staffing. One of America’s most prestigious soft-power tools, the Fulbright Program, would be transformed into a tightly focused scholarship for master’s-level students in national security studies. Priority would be given to critical languages including Mandarin Chinese, Russian, Arabic and Farsi.

Meanwhile, fellowships at Howard University, a historically Black college in Washington, would be eliminated, as part of what officials describe as a broader rollback of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives across the State Department.

The order also outlines the final stages of dismantling the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), whose responsibilities would now be folded into a newly created Bureau of Humanitarian Affairs. No mission, it says, could proceed without “explicit written approval from the President of the United States.”

Loyalty test for future diplomats

A new foreign service examination would be introduced, according to the draft, to ensure that prospective diplomats are “aligned with the President’s foreign policy vision”:  a dramatic politicisation of the traditionally non-partisan diplomatic corps.

Currently, the State Department’s global workforce includes over 13,000 Foreign Service officers, 11,000 Civil Service employees, and more than 45,000 locally employed staff. With over 270 US diplomatic missions around the world, the proposed cuts would mark a seismic shift in how Washington engages with the world.