The Donald Trump administration could shut down nearly 30 United States embassies and consulates across the world, including some in Africa, as part of its reforms to cut costs and reduce the country’s diplomatic foreign presence.
A CNN report on Wednesday reveals, citing an internal US State Department document, that the embassies in the Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Lesotho, and South Sudan are among those proposed for closure, the Punch had reported.
A US consulate in South Africa may also be shut down.
“The document recommends closing 10 embassies and 17 consulates. Many of the posts are in Europe and Africa, though they also include locations in Asia and the Caribbean.
These include embassies in Malta, Luxembourg, Lesotho, the Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, and South Sudan.
According to the report, “the list also includes five consulates in France, two in Germany, two in Bosnia and Herzegovina, one in the United Kingdom, one in South Africa, and one in South Korea.”
The proposal is part of a broader effort by the Trump-led government, reportedly influenced by the Elon Musk-backed Department of Government Efficiency to drastically reduce the size and spending of federal agencies, including the State Department.
The internal document also suggests reducing the US presence in countries such as Somalia and Iraq, which have been central to America’s counterterrorism efforts.
There has been no official confirmation that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has approved the proposal, and a spokesperson for the department declined to comment on the leaked document.
Earlier, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Harvard University will lose its ability to enrol foreign students if it does not meet demands from the Trump administration to share information on some visa holders, marking the government’s latest escalation against the educational institution.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem also announced on Wednesday the termination of two DHS grants totalling more than $2.7 million to Harvard.
Noem said she wrote a letter to Harvard demanding records on what she called the “illegal and violent activities” of Harvard’s foreign student visa holders by April 30.
“And if Harvard cannot verify it is in full compliance with its reporting requirements, the university will lose the privilege of enrolling foreign students,” Noem said in a statement.
A Harvard spokesperson said the university was aware of Noem’s letter “regarding grant cancellations and scrutiny of foreign student visas.”
The spokesperson said the university stood by its statement earlier in the week to “not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights” while saying it will comply with the law.
President Donald Trump’s administration has threatened universities with federal funding cuts over pro-Palestinian campus protests against the U.S. ally Israel’s devastating military assault on Gaza after a deadly October 2023 attack by Palestinian Hamas militants.
Trump casts the protesters as foreign policy threats who are antisemitic and sympathetic to Hamas. Protesters, including some Jewish groups, say the Trump administration wrongly conflates their advocacy for Palestinian rights and criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza with support for extremism and antisemitism.
