US State Department closes its consulates in Canada, Japan, and Indonesia

In a notice sent to several congressional committees a few days ago, the State Department said it intends to close its missions in St. George (Grenada), Nagoya (Japan), Medan (Indonesia), Douala (Cameroon), and also in Winnipeg (Canada).

The closures, for which there had been no prior reports, represent a rare instance of the United States shutting down multiple diplomatic missions as part of a downsizing effort not tied to a specific geopolitical event.

Early last year, during the first months of President Donald Trump’s administration, the State Department began preparations to close nearly 10 diplomatic missions, as reported by Reuters and other media outlets at the time, as part of a broader campaign led by the Republican president to restructure the bureaucratic apparatus to fully align with the “America First” agenda.

Democratic lawmakers and some former foreign policy and national security officials argue that reducing the U.S. diplomatic presence, alongside dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development, which had provided billions of dollars in aid worldwide, poses risks that could undermine American leadership, leaving a serious vacuum that adversaries such as China and Russia could fill.