The Trump administration is aiming to slash the State Department’s budget by more than $30 billion in fiscal year 2026, four U.S. officials familiar with the plan said Monday. The proposal would amount to cutting the department’s funding in half and could result in nearly 30 U.S. missions being shut down and foreign aid reduced by close to 75%.
According to the officials, the cuts are detailed in a response from the White House Office of Management and Budget to the State Department’s funding requests for the fiscal year beginning October 1.
A separate internal memo reviewed by Reuters shows that the administration is weighing the closure of at least 27 U.S. missions, primarily located in Africa and Europe. Of those, ten are embassies and the remainder are consulates.
The same document outlines ways to adopt a lower-cost operational model for at least four other overseas posts and explores the consolidation of certain multi-mission sites, including the U.S. presence at the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in Paris.
