President Donald Trump’s administration is preparing to close five small U.S. diplomatic missions as part of a broader effort to reduce costs and reshape America’s presence overseas.
The State Department notified congressional committees late last week that it intends to close the U.S. Embassy in Grenada, the consulates in Nagoya, Japan, and Medan, Indonesia, an American Presence Post in Winnipeg, Canada, and an embassy branch office in Douala, Cameroon, according to ABC News.
The planned closures are expected to save taxpayers approximately $4.4 million annually, according to congressional notices cited by Newsmax.
Most of the affected facilities maintain relatively small staffs.
The embassy in St. George’s, Grenada, and the consulate in Nagoya each employ one American and five local workers. The Winnipeg post employs only two local staffers, while the Douala office has 14 local employees.
The consulate in Medan is the largest of the five, with four direct-hire American employees and 47 local workers.
A State Department spokesperson stopped short of formally confirming the individual closures but said the agency is following the required process for notifying Congress.
“The Department is committed to following Congressional Notification procedures including post closures,” the spokesperson told ABC News. “We have nothing further to report at this time. We are focused on ensuring our diplomatic footprint is efficient, effective, and delivers results for the American people.”
The decision is part of Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s effort to “right size” the department and eliminate what the administration considers decades of bureaucratic expansion.
Earlier this year, the department also announced the permanent closure of the U.S. Consulate General in Peshawar, Pakistan. That facility had been the closest American diplomatic post to Afghanistan following the withdrawal of U.S. troops in 2021.
The closures come as the Trump administration directs resources toward countries where it sees new strategic opportunities.
The United States has already reopened its long-shuttered embassy in Caracas, Venezuela, and is moving forward with plans to restore diplomatic posts in Damascus, Syria, and Tripoli, Libya.
The strategy reflects a targeted realignment rather than a uniform retreat from overseas diplomacy: smaller missions are being eliminated while Washington rebuilds its presence in countries undergoing major political transitions.
The State Department has also begun consolidating routine visa processing across Africa into regional hubs. The department said the changes would improve efficiency while promoting more consistent security screening, vetting, and visa adjudication standards.
Critics contend that closing diplomatic facilities could create openings for American adversaries to expand their influence. Administration officials, however, argue that concentrating personnel and funding in higher-priority locations will produce better results while reducing unnecessary government spending.
