↓ The New York Times: The US withdraws diplomats from Africa and Europe, closing 10 embassies and 17 consulates.

↓ Africa is the hardest hit - the memo suggests closing six embassies in Africa: the Central African Republic, Eritrea, Gambia, Lesotho, Republic of Congo, and South Sudan. It recommends transferring the functions of these embassies to neighboring countries' embassies.

↓ The memo also suggests closing two small embassies in Europe (Luxembourg and Malta) as well as the diplomatic missions in Grenada and Maldives, transferring their responsibilities to neighboring countries.

↓ Most of the consulates recommended for closure are located in Europe, including several popular tourist destinations for Americans.

↓ Five consulates are located in France, respectively in Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille, Rennes, and Strasbourg. Two consulates are located in Germany, respectively in Dusseldorf and Leipzig. Another two consulates, Mostar and Banja Luka, are located in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

↓ The memo suggests closing consulates in Thessaloniki, Greece, Florence, Italy, Ponta Delgada, Portugal, and Edinburgh. Outside Europe, the memo suggests closing four consulates in Yaounde, Cameroon, Medan, Indonesia, Durban, South Africa, and Busan, South Korea.

↓ The memo also suggests significantly reducing or eliminating U.S. embassy operations in Mogadishu, Somalia, closing the Baghdad Diplomatic Support Center in Iraq, and reducing costs at diplomatic institutions in Baghdad and Erbil, Iraq. The memo also suggests consolidating consular support services in one location in countries like Japan and Canada that have multiple consulates.

↓ Trump plans to halve the State Department's budget - a substantial reduction in UN and NATO funding.

↓ After these operations, the proposed cuts for the US fiscal year 2026 could reach up to $30 billion.

↓ This is two orders of magnitude away from Musk's promotion of cutting trillions of dollars.

Source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1829566570234315/

Disclaimer: The article only represents the author's personal views.