Seoul Gazette - Trump eyes gutting US diplomacy in Africa, cutting soft power: draft plan

The executive order, framed as a strategy to cut costs while "reflecting the priorities" of the White House, also lays out 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 Sunday on X.

However, a copy of the draft viewed by AFP calls for "full structural reorganization" of the State Department by October 1 of this year.

The aim, the draft order says, 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 organizing 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" who reports 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 order says, with all remaining missions consolidated under a special envoy "using targeted, mission-driven deployments."

Emphasis in Africa would be placed on counterterrorism and "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 likewise get a downgrade.

The diplomatic presence would see a "significantly reduced team" 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.

- Soft power scrapped -

The plan would impose far-reaching cuts to American soft power around the world and weaken participation in multilateral bodies.

While the draft executive order obtained by AFP has not been discussed publicly by officials, it comes amid a flurry of moves to cut decades-old US initiatives and to question long-held alliances, including with NATO.

An earlier proposed plan leaked to US media would see the State Department's entire budget slashed by half.

While that proposal also has yet to be confirmed, the State Department did announce last week that it has scrapped an agency built to track and combat aggressive disinformation campaigns run by foreign governments.

The administration has also already axed the US government's foreign aid arm, USAID.

The new draft order says current offices dealing with climate change, oceans, global criminal justice, and human rights would be "eliminated." Also on the scrap list is the State Department's separate office for Afghan women and girls.

A decades-old program to project US cultural and English-language contacts around the globe would be partially dismantled.

The Fulbright program funds research and teaching scholarships for Americans abroad, as well as attracting foreign students to US institutions. Under the executive order, many of those opportunities would vanish.

This would follow Trump's already ongoing dismantlement of Voice of America, the network built to broadcast into repressive countries.

Yazdgerdi criticized what he described as a "self-inflicted wound" for the United States.

Soft power 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," he said.

"You're basically ceding the field to countries that have no issue filling the void -- Russia and China immediately spring to mind."

F.Cheon--SG