Trumps Plan to Quickly Recall Ambassadors Is Risky Move: Experts

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

 A plan by Donald Trump to turf out dozens of ambassadors on the day he takes office risks months of uncertainty in some of the most sensitive parts of the world, according to several experts.

The president-elect's stance that all politically appointed ambassadors must, with no exceptions, be gone from Day One risks cutting off nations' direct line to the president while Congress wades through the lengthy process of approving their successors, analysts said.

This could be especially pertinent because of Trump's penchant for making candid foreign policy statements from his Twitter account; a good ambassador might be able to provide their host government with reassurances and explanation perhaps absent from the president-elect's forthright 140-character messages.

"You do not want to have a situation where countries are left without a direct link to the president for that long," said Julianne Smith, director of the Strategy and Statecraft Program at the Center for a New American Security, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump%e2%80%99s-plan-to-quickly-recall-ambassadors-is-%e2%80%98risky-move%e2%80%99-experts/ar-AAlT2qE?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=edgsp

[uppityperson]

1. No need for any orientation by the existing ambassadors, no introductions, etc?

[onenote]

8. Standard Operating Procedure. See post #7.

This is actually commonplace. And during the course of a presidency, ambassadors often resign and are replaced, with career diplomats running the mission for months during the interim between an ambassador leaving his/her post and a new one presenting his/her credentials.

How do I know this? Family member who was lifelong career foreign service.

[Hekate]

14. It's good to have your input

[pscot]

2. What's their rationale for doing this?

On its face it seems stupid and pointless. Why the urgency? I'm getting a really bad vibe about this whole takeover.

[enough]

3. An idiotic power play, makes him feel powerful, makes the country weaker.

He understands nothing but personal fealty, thinks of Obama's appointees as the enemy.

[delisen]

4. A Deliberate Destabilization Plan? Wonder which countries would be the actual targets.

Even though there is always someone in charge, usually very experienced, suddenly having no ambassador in any country seems strange.

I don't know enough about the state department to assess possible dangers.

[world wide wally]

5. For the first time ever, we will not just have a former administration, but a former government

I have always been somewhat partial to our previous form of government even when we fucked up.
How about you?

You know Putin is beating off at the turn of events right about now

[Wellstone ruled]

6. Oh oh,

Mr. Obama asked all Ambassadors to hand their Resignations effective 12:01 Friday PM. Trump has to lie about everything does he not.

[Hekate]

12. That is a formality, iiuc. The incoming admin is then supposed to ask them to stay on until they....

...are replaced.

Trojan Horse Trump is telling them, in so many words, to abandon ship.

[Wellstone ruled]

13. That is what

one of Trump's mouth pieces said. Hunch says,Retributions against many at the State Department .

[onenote]

7. Sorry to say, but this story is written by someone who knows nothing about the foreign service

This story about the termination of political appointee ambassadors has been blown out of proportion and reflects a lack of knowledge of how the replacement of ambassadors has been handled in the past.

First, once you eliminate "ambassadors" who are appointed to international organizations rather than to individual countries, there currently are fewer than 40 political appointees amongst the ambassadorial ranks. That's because, to his credit, President Obama has appointed more career foreign service officers to positions as ambassador than his predecessors.

Second, the number of occasions in which an political appointee ambassador stays on beyond the inauguration of a new president is very small and usually is for a very limited time for personal reasons. It is not to facilitate a transition to a new ambassador.

Thus, looking at the four countries named in the article (China, Japan, India, and Saudi Arabia), in only one instance did the ambassador appointed by Bush stay on the job past January 20 (Saudi Arabia, where the ambassador stayed until Feb. 8, 2009). And in each instance, there was at least an eight month gap between the date the previous ambassador "terminated" his/her mission and left the country and the date on a new ambassador presented his/her credentials.

There are enough real issues with Trump that there's no need to fabricate ones that don't exist.

[kimbutgar]

9. I'm sure the Russian embassies can handle American problems

Since pooty poot controls the POS.

[Hekate]

11. Just leave the key under the front doormat, fellas. What could possibly go wrong?

Trump is a Trojan Horse.