American diplomacy "went against the grain" under Trump.

International observers believe that US allies from Europe to Asia are rewriting the rules of conduct, ignoring Trump's rhetoric, and creating new diplomatic channels to counter the White House's foreign policy, which they see as "increasingly dominated by individuals rather than institutions."

Diplomatic communication gap

When President Trump warned Iran on April 7th that “an entire civilization will perish tonight,” a European diplomat in Washington said their government wanted an urgent answer to the troubling question: Was the U.S. president considering using nuclear weapons?

President Trump and Secretary of State Rubio at the White House. Photo: Getty Images

Amid fears of disaster, European governments immediately sought reassurance through the traditional channel of the U.S. State Department . But U.S. diplomatic officials gave a worrying response: They didn't know what Trump meant or what actions his words might foreshadow.

This unprecedented event reveals a historic breakdown in American diplomacy. With a particularly unpredictable president shaking markets and capitals with dramatic pronouncements, governments around the world are scrambling for clarity, only to find their usual channels of communication – at U.S. embassies or within Washington – have disappeared, gone silent, or gone uninformed.

In fact, at least half of the 195 U.S. ambassadorial positions around the world are currently vacant. On the other hand, professional diplomats typically make up between 57% and 74% of U.S. ambassadors. But during Trump's second term, only about 9% of his ambassadorial appointments were professional diplomats – a significant decline in the institutional expertise that has historically shaped American diplomacy.

However, the Trump administration rejected the notion of a breakdown, arguing that these changes "have made the U.S. government more efficient, leaner, and better able to implement the president's foreign policy."

Allies change their approach.

As professional American diplomats were fired or marginalized, their allies were forced to change how they communicated with Washington. Instead of relying on embassies or official channels, foreign governments said they were restructuring their diplomacy around a small group of people with direct access to the president, leaving many countries dependent on informal channels to manage a superpower whose signals were becoming increasingly erratic.

Indeed, following Trump's threat to destroy Iran, which fueled fears of nuclear war, officials in Britain, France, and Germany drafted a “stern” joint statement later that day. However, they chose not to release it, believing Trump's rhetoric was empty rhetoric and that a public criticism might provoke him to resume bombing. That evening, President Trump announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran.

The cautious response from European powers illustrates an approach many allies are now pursuing: restraint rather than confrontation. But diplomats argue that consistently downplaying Trump's threats is also dangerous because it could leave them unprepared when another crisis arises.

More than a year after President Trump took office for his second term, influence and information from the United States are increasingly being conveyed through a select few special envoys. Most prominent are his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and the president's longtime friend, real estate developer Steve Witkoff. Kushner holds no official government title, and Witkoff has no diplomatic experience. Yet, some foreign governments still prefer to contact them over official channels.

Other countries have found their own unconventional ways to approach the White House. South Korean officials bypassed U.S. trade negotiators to establish a relationship with White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, whom they felt could explain Trump's true intentions behind his 25% tariffs. And Japan found an unexpected intermediary in SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son—one of Trump's golf friends.

The State Department was one of the first targets for downsizing in Trump's second term. In April 2025, Secretary of State Marco Rubio called it a "cumbersome" bureaucracy dominated by "extremist political ideology" and announced a "comprehensive reorganization plan." Around 3,000 employees left the State Department last year, nearly half laid off and the rest receiving severance pay – a reduction of about 15% in the number of employees working in the US. Last December, Rubio also ordered the unprecedented recall of about 30 ambassadors worldwide.

DUC TRUNG (According to Reuters)

Source: https://baocantho.com.vn/ngoai-giao-my-pha-cach-duoi-thoi-ong-trump-a205257.html