The Dictatorship
Why Trump’s mass recall of ambassadors is even worse than it sounds
President Donald Trump is ordering dozens of U.S. ambassadors around the world to leave their posts and return to the country within weeks. It’s yet another precedent-breaking maneuver by the president to remold the U.S.’ diplomatic apparatus into a more overtly political arm of government.
According to The New York Timesthe nearly 30 ambassadors being recalled are career diplomats — foreign service officers who typically serve under presidents of either party and whose terms usually run their course without intervention from a new president. That makes them different from political appointee ambassadors, who are expected to resign when a new president comes on. (That’s what former President Joe Biden’s politically appointed diplomats did when Trump took office in January.)
Trump’s mass recall represents yet another example of how he’s gutting vital institutional knowledge.
Nikki Gamer, a spokesperson for the American Foreign Service Association, the union that represents career diplomats, told the Times that the union “can say definitively that such a mass recall has never happened since the founding of the Foreign Service as we know it.” Gamer also said that the way they were being dismissed was “highly irregular” — because they were being notified abruptly by phone without any explanation. According to The Washington Postthey’ll have 90 days to find a new position in the State Department, which is going to be difficult at a time when the department has faced massive cuts and there are scarce job openings.
AFSA”https://www.BLN.com/2025/12/22/politics/diplomats-removed-trump-state”>said in a statement that the removal of the diplomats without known cause sends a “dangerous message” and “tells our allies that America’s commitments may shift with the political winds.” The statement added that the move “tells our public servants that loyalty to country is no longer enough — that experience and oath to the Constitution take a backseat to political loyalty.”
Trump’s mass recall represents yet another example of how he’s gutting vital institutional knowledge associated with what he and his supporters derisively call “the deep state” in Washington. The effect is a loss of credentialed, nonpartisan civil experts whose experience is incredibly valuable for achieving U.S. foreign policy goals and managing everything from mitigating conflict to foreign investment to helping Americans stuck in a foreign country during a disaster. The Trump administration has presented no evidence that the recalled diplomats were not doing their jobs or following orders, but these kinds of actions are likely to chill independent thinking, as well as push diplomats to execute the administration’s directives bluntly and without the kind of finesse that experienced diplomats are known for.
This is all happening as Trump appoints a special envoy to Greenland to signal his continuing interest in trying to annex the territory from Denmark — which has infuriated the Danes. Trump is not interested in retaining or attracting the best people for diplomacy. He’s looking for personal errand boys to help try to execute his personal imperialistic fantasies.
Zeeshan Aleem is a writer for MS NOW. Sign up for his newsletter.
As awards season progresses, celebrities continue to speak out against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown — especially in Minneapolis. Though some stars have opted for a slight nod of resistance with pins that say “ICE out,” others have been more vocal in their stances.
Upon accepting the Grammy Award for Best Música Urbana Album on Sunday night, Bad Bunny got straight to the point.
“Before I say thanks to God, I’m going to say ICE out,” the Puerto Rican performer said as soon as he approached the podium with award in hand.
After a standing ovation and cheers from the crowd, he continued.
“We’re not savage, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens. We are humans and we are Americans.”
This is not the first time the artist has spoken out against the Trump administration’s rhetoric against immigrants in the United States. Last year, he announced he would no longer tour in the U.S., which drew criticism from some right-wing commentators.
Despite that pushback, Bad Bunny scored the headlining spot at this year’s Super Bowl and said he decided to “do just one date in the United States.”
The album Bad Bunny accepted the award for, “Debí Tirar Más Fotos,” also won Album of the Year, becoming the first primarily Spanish-language album to win the distinction in the ceremony’s 68-year history.
Kathleen Creedon is a platforms editor for MS NOW. She previously worked as a web producer for Vanity Fair.
Despite a brutal critical reception“Melania,” the documentary about the first lady released on January 30, outperformed expectations in its opening weekend.
“Melania” earned more than $7 million at the domestic U.S. box office, the highest opening for a non-concert documentary in decades. Most recently, the best-performing film in the same genre was Stephen Gray and Chris Radtke’s “After Death,” which opened at around $5 million domestically in 2023. With an opening box office of almost $24 million, Michael Moore’s 2004 film “Fahrenheit 9/11” remains the highest-grossing political documentary.
Critics, however, have been less kind to “Melania.” The documentary has received an aggregate rating of 10% among professional critic reviews on Rotten Tomatoes (which is owned by Versant, MS NOW’s parent company), and negative reviews from major news outlets abound. Writing for MS NOW, media critic Jen Cheney said the film is “so devoid of substance that it feels wrong to call it a documentary” and suggested “This thing is basically ‘Let Them Eat Cake: The Movie,’” invoking Marie Antoinette, the French queen beheaded during the revolution.
Still, the film about the model-turned-political figure found its audience. Media analytics company Comscore reported that roughly 72% of Melania’s audience during opening weekend were women, and 72% were over the age of 55. The majority of the movie-goers were also white.
Directed by Brett Ratner in his first film since he faced accusations of sexual abuse (allegations he has denied), “Melania” outperformed expectations out of the gate but has far to go before it becomes profitable: Amazon’s MGM Studios paid $40 million to license the film and another $35 million to promote it.
“We’re very encouraged by the strong start and positive audience response, with early box office for ‘Melania’ exceeding our expectation,” said Kevin Wilson, Amazon MGM Studios’ head of domestic theatrical distribution.
Erum Salam is a breaking news reporter and producer for MS NOW. She previously was a breaking news reporter for The Guardian.
The Dictatorship
British prime minister says Prince Andrew should testify to Congress over Epstein ties
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the disgraced British royal formerly known as Prince Andrew, to testify before the U.S. Congress over his ties to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“Firstly, I have always approached this question with the victims of Epstein in mind. Epstein’s victims have to be the first priority. As for whether there should be an apology, that’s a matter for Andrew,” Starmer told press on Saturday during an official visit to Tokyo, Japan.
“But yes, in terms of testifying, I have always said anybody who has got information should be prepared to share that information in whatever form they are asked to do that. You can’t be victim-centered if you’re not prepared to do that.”
The statement comes after the Justice Department on Friday released more than 3 million pages of documents related to its investigation into Epstein as part of its mandate to fulfill the requirements of the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
Among the documents are photographs that show a barefoot Mountbatten-Windsor kneeling over and touching the stomach and waist of an unidentified female figure whose face has been redacted.
Also among the newly released documents, the Guardian identified email exchanges between him and Epstein dated 2010. In them, Epstein tells Mountbatten-Windsor, “I have a friend who I think you might enjoy having dinner with” and refers to a 26-year-old Russian woman. Andrew replied that he would be “delighted to see her” and told Epstein to give her his contact information.
Mountbatten-Windsor has been unable to distance himself from the scandal over his friendship with Epstein, the American financier who ran a sex-trafficking ring.
Amid ongoing revelations about his history with Epstein, Mountbatten-Windsor was stripped of his royal titles last year by his older brother, King Charles III. Andrew was also evicted from his home at Royal Lodge, a 30-room mansion located on the grounds of Windsor Castle.
Virginia Giuffreone of Epstein’s victims, sued Mountbatten-Windsor in 2021, claiming she was forced to have sex with him. The case was settled for an undisclosed amount in 2022with no admission of wrongdoing. Giuffre died by suicide last April. Mountbatten-Windsor has repeatedly denied the allegations against him. In a now-famous BBC Newsnight interviewhe claimed he was at a PizzaExpress in Woking with his daughter, Princess Beatrice, at the time of the alleged assault.
MS NOW is reviewing the documents released by the Justice Department in collaboration with journalists from NBC, AP, CNBC and CBS. Journalists from each newsroom worked together to examine the documents and share information about what is in them. Each outlet is responsible for its own independent news coverage of the documents.
Erum Salam is a breaking news reporter and producer for MS NOW. She previously was a breaking news reporter for The Guardian.
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- Billie Eilish rips ICE at Grammys: ‘No one is illegal on stolen land’
- GOP rep: ‘Senate is very, very corrupt’
- Bad Bunny denounces ICE in Grammys speech: ‘We’re not savages’
- Portland mayor tells ICE to leave city after federal agents use tear gas on protesters
- Trevor Noah roasts Nicki Minaj’s Trump support at Grammys
- ‘ICE out’: Bad Bunny uses Grammy speech to speak out
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- British prime minister says Prince Andrew should testify to Congress over Epstein ties
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