More than half of US ambassador posts remain unfilled
Kimberly Guilfoyle, a conservative commentator and former politician, began serving as ambassador to Greece in November 2025 and stepped down in October after facing allegations of corruption, the Guardian reported. She was appointed shortly after the end of her engagement to Donald Trump Jr., the president’s son.
According to the Guardian, Guilfoyle was accused of promoting the business interests of one particular Greek construction and energy company, of inviting Greek lobbyists to sit in on official diplomatic meetings, and of asking an ally to pay off her $100,000 American Express card before her Senate confirmation hearing.
In France, Charles Kushner — the father-in-law of Ivanka Trump and father of Jared Kushner — has served as ambassador to France and Monaco since July 2025. Kushner was convicted of tax evasion, making false statements to the Federal Election Commission, and witness tampering, and was pardoned by Trump in 2020. The Guardian reported that in February, Kushner was banned from a meeting with his counterparts after failing to appear for a summons tied to his accusation that France had allowed antisemitism and leftist extremism to run rampant.
Across Europe, several other Trump appointees have clashed publicly with host governments. Bill White, the former president of the Intrepid museum who became ambassador to Belgium in November 2025, has sparred repeatedly with Belgium’s foreign minister, Maxime Prévot. Prévot admonished White in February for accusing Belgium of antisemitism and scolded him in August for calling a Belgian official a “loser” on social media — a post White denied. In Poland, Tom Rose, a former adviser to Mike Pence who took his post in November 2025, announced in February that he would cut off communications with the speaker of Poland’s lower house over “insults” toward Trump. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk responded by telling Rose to “respect, not lecture” allies, which Rose rebuffed, the Guardian reported.
Billy Long, a former Republican congressman from Missouri and former auctioneer, began serving as ambassador to Iceland in August 2026 after a brief stint as internal revenue commissioner. Long was reportedly removed from the IRS role due to internal clashes with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Earlier in 2026, Long was forced to apologize after joking that the US would make Iceland its 52nd state.
In Canada, where Trump’s threats to make the country the “51st state” have strained relations, US Ambassador Pete Hoekstra has drawn particular resistance. More than 200,000 Canadians signed a petition calling for Hoekstra’s expulsion for normalizing Trump’s rhetoric, the Guardian reported. Hoekstra, who became ambassador in April 2025, has also warned Canadians not to “meddle” in US politics ahead of November’s US midterm elections.
Kari Lake, a longtime election denier, was tapped to serve as ambassador to Jamaica in May 2026, but her nomination has not yet been confirmed. Lake most recently served as head of Voice of America, a federally funded news group. Two former ambassadors to Jamaica criticized the selection in interviews with the Miami Herald. Donald Tapia, who served as ambassador from 2019 to 2021, told the Miami Herald that “Kari Lake is not the person for Jamaica.” Luis Moreno, ambassador from 2014 to 2017, told the Miami Herald that Lake was “not really a policy person.” He called the selection “what we would call a lightweight appointment,” and added: “I would expect lightweight efforts on her part, and what can I say? The Jamaican government will have to work with her because she’s an ambassador.”
Other controversial nominations have been pulled or have stalled. The White House withdrew its nomination of Nick Adams, a rightwing influencer known for internet trolling, to become ambassador to Malaysia after former officials in Muslim-majority Malaysia called the appointment an insult to the country. Amer Ghalib, a conservative Democrat and former mayor of Hamtramck, Michigan, was tapped for Kuwait, but his nomination stalled in the Senate after lawmakers accused him of engaging with antisemitic content on social media.
Despite the high-profile appointments, more than half of US ambassador roles remain unfilled. As of October, just 92 of 196 positions were filled — including posts in Cuba, where the US is exercising pressure, and Ukraine, which is at war with Russia, the Guardian reported.