Trump orders US diplomats to speak with 'one voice'

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump ordered the “reform” of the US diplomatic corps, effectively curtailing any dissent against his policies, as he continues his vast overhaul of the federal government.

In an executive order, Trump said that the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, will “reform the Foreign Service and the administration of foreign relations to ensure faithful and effective implementation of the President’s foreign policy agenda”.

He warned that all staff employed by the State Department to carry out US foreign policy “do so under the direction and authority of the President”.

“Failure to faithfully implement the President’s policy is grounds for professional discipline, including separation,” the order, entitled “One Voice For America’s Foreign Relations,” continued.

The order targets both career diplomats and the thousands of civilians at the State Department, a vast entity with up to 80,000 employees worldwide.

It comes as Trump has frozen US foreign aid, with a few exceptions, and all but dismantled the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

The executive order goes so far as to call on the State Department to “revise or replace the Foreign Affairs Manual and direct subordinate agencies to remove, amend, or replace any handbooks, procedures, or guidance” that do not align with Trump’s policies.

It is traditional for civil servants to be non-partisan and submit to the policies of elected officials and diplomats, regardless of their own beliefs.

But highlighting that in an executive order is unusual.

Trump, working with his top donor and ally Elon Musk, has embarked on a vast reform of the federal government, tracking down public spending deemed wasteful or contrary to his policies, such as programmes promoting diversity and equality.

In another order signed one day earlier, he gave Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency de facto veto power over civil service hiring, stressing that it must be done in consultation with DOGE.