The Trump administration has notified Congress of plans to close five smaller U.S. embassies, consulates and diplomatic missions across Africa, Asia and the Western Hemisphere, even as it moves to reopen diplomatic posts in Libya and Syria and restores its embassy in Venezuela.
In separate notices sent late last week to lawmakers, the State Department said it would close the U.S. Embassy in the Caribbean island of Grenada; the consulates in Nagoya, Japan, and Medan, Indonesia; the American Presence Post in Winnipeg, Canada; and an embassy branch office in Douala, Cameroon.
The closures by the Republican administration are expected to save the government roughly $4.4 million per year, according to the notices obtained by The Associated Press. But the missions to be closed employ very few people compared with others.
The embassy in St. George’s, Grenada, and the consulate in Nagoya have only one American staffer and five local employees each. The consulate in Medan has four direct-hire U.S. staffers and 47 local employees. The Winnipeg post has only two local staffers, and the embassy office in Douala has only 14 local staffers.
The State Department announced plans earlier this year to permanently close the U.S. consulate in Peshawar, Pakistan, which was the closest diplomatic mission to Afghanistan since American troops withdrew in 2021.
The steps come as the department moves to streamline its operations at home and abroad, while investing millions of dollars into reopening the U.S. embassies in Caracas, Venezuela; Damascus, Syria; and Tripoli, Libya, to restore America’s formal diplomatic presence following the ouster of long-ruling autocrats in those countries.
