U.S. Ambassador to Estonia Resigns in Disgust After Trump Anti-Europe Rants

The U.S. ambassador to Estonia, James D. Melville Jr., a career diplomat and member of the senior foreign service ranks, announced to friends Friday that he was resigning amid a string of controversial comments President Donald Trump made about U.S. allies in Europe.

Melville, who has served as a diplomat for 33 years and as ambassador to Estonia since 2015, was due to retire soon but said in a private Facebook post announcing his retirement that Trump’s behavior and comments accelerated his decision.

“A Foreign Service Officer’s DNA is programmed to support policy and we’re schooled right from the start, that if there ever comes a point where one can no longer do so, particularly if one is in a position of leadership, the honorable course is to resign. Having served under six presidents and 11 secretaries of state, I never really thought it would reach that point for me,” he wrote in the post, which was obtained by Foreign Policy.

“For the President to say the EU was ‘set up to take advantage of the United States, to attack our piggy bank,’ or that ‘NATO is as bad as NAFTA’ is not only factually wrong, but proves to me that it’s time to go,” he wrote, citing Trump’s reported comments in recent weeks that have unnerved U.S. allies.

The post surprised several State Department officials who worked with Melville, describing him as a consummate professional who never let domestic politics impact his job.

The resignation comes ahead of a pivotal NATO summit, where the United States’ closest historic allies fear that Trump will lambast them and further isolate Washington from its allies after heated disputes over trade, defense spending issues, and the U.S. exit from the Iran nuclear deal. Allies fear that the optics of Trump trashing allies in Brussels, followed by a meeting in Finland with Russian President Vladimir Putin, will undercut an already anemic trans-Atlantic partnership.

[NATO is bracing for impact with Trump’s upcoming visit to Brussels — and Trump isn’t backing down from the fight over European defense spending.]

Melville said he believed in the U.S. support for the European Union and NATO to his “marrow.”

“I leave willingly and with deep gratitude for being able to serve my nation with integrity for many years, and with great confidence that America, which is and has always been, great, will someday return to being right,” he added. He said his last day on the job would be July 29, even though the Trump administration has yet to name a replacement. (Trump last month quietly withdrew the name of Edward Masso to be ambassador, though did not explain why.)

The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Melville is one of many senior U.S. diplomats who have resigned — some quietly, some not — because of Trump’s policies. In December 2017, for example, the U.S. ambassador to Panama, John Feeley, resigned and several months later wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post slamming the president and his foreign-policy stances. Elizabeth Shackelford, a rising star in the diplomatic corps in Africa, quit with a scathing resignation letter, also obtained by FP, deriding Trump and former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson for what she saw as their disdain of U.S. diplomacy.

[One diplomat’s stinging resignation letter offers a glimpse into declining morale at the State Department under Trump.]

“It means a lot when someone whose had it all in their career just says, ‘I can’t do this any longer,’” one senior State Department official said of Melville’s retirement. “I just wonder who’s next.”</s>Donald Trump appears to be attempting to destabilize post-WWII global alliances, experts say, as meeting with Vladimir Putin looms

Recent remarks by Donald Trump made to the leaders of other major Western democracies, suggesting that France pull out of the European Union and comparing the post-World War II military alliance NATO to the NAFTA trade agreement that Trump hates, appear to indicate that Trump is attempting to destabilize alliances among Western nations that have existed for more than 70 years, according to foreign policy experts such as Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin.

“As (Trump) heads to Europe next month for the NATO summit and then a historic meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, his personal attacks on the European Union and other pillars of the Western order are overshadowing his own administration’s attempts to reassure allies that the United States still believes in the transatlantic project it has led since the 1940s,” Rogin wrote in a Thursday column.

In the same column, as The Hill noted, Rogin also revealed a startling comment made by Trump to French President Emmanuel Macron during Macron’s state visit to the White House in April.

“At one point, (Trump) asked Macron, ‘Why don’t you leave the E.U.?’ and said that if France exited the union, Trump would offer it a bilateral trade deal with better terms than the E.U. as a whole gets from the United States,” Rogin wrote, adding that two European officials confirmed that Trump made the comment and White House press officials did not dispute the account.

The report of the comment, in which Trump offered financial incentives to France to split from the European Union which was founded in 1945, came on the same day that another Trump remark that alarmed leaders of United States allies leaked to the press. In a scoop by the political site Axios, a comment by Trump seemed to hint that he wants to pull the U.S. out of NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance which was founded after World War II largely to counter expansionism by the Soviet Union, of which Russia was then a part.

“NATO is as bad as NAFTA,” Trump told the other G7 leaders at the Canada summit. “It’s much too costly for the U.S.”

Axios reporter Jonathan Swan wrote that he heard the comment read by an official directly from transcribed notes of the private conversations among the G7 leaders. With the exception of Japan, all of the G7 nations are also key members of NATO.

Trump has repeatedly said that he believes the U.S. should pull out of the NAFTA trade deal, as Vox has reported, which would indicate that he holds similar beliefs about NATO, based on his reported comment at the G7.

The reports of Trump’s comments came one day after the White House announced that Trump would hold his first one-on-one “summit” meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 16 in Helsinki, Finland, as the Washington Post reported.

Trump made a third comment that worried leaders both in the United States and in allied nations, posting to his Twitter feed on Thursday a message that appeared to accept Russia’s denial of 2016 election meddling, as the Inquisitr reported.

Trump’s comments, especially coming so close to his unsupervised meeting with Putin, have alarmed European leaders, according to The Guardian, because they seem to align closely with what experts say are Putin’s efforts to undermine Western democracies, and allied institutions such as NATO and the E.U.

“Just at the moment when the West requires unity, it’s disintegrating,” wrote Politico magazine Russia expert James Kirchick. “Unlike any American president of the postwar age, Trump’s 19th century worldview seems to accord with a Russian sphere of interest in Europe. For the next four years at least, it is an open question whether there will be any American leadership to corral Europeans together against Russian aggression and subversion.”</s>US President Donald Trump told fellow western leaders at the recent G7 summit that the NATO alliance is "as bad as NAFTA" -- a North American trade deal that he has threatened to tear up.

The comment, which will increase concerns that the Atlantic allies are headed for a bust up at their summit next month, was reported Thursday by US news site Axios and confirmed by a European diplomat.

The G7 summit in Quebec earlier this month was already known to have been a frosty affair, with Trump facing off alone against the leaders of the world's next six richest democracies over trade.

But his barbed aside underlines that the US leader's hostility to multilateral agreement extends to the NATO alliance, the cornerstone of Western security for decades.

News of his remark came just as the White House and the Kremlin announced that Trump and NATO's great foe President Vladimir Putin of Russia will meet in Finland straight after the alliance's summit.

The NATO allies are due to meet on July 11-12 in Brussels for a summit that will be clouded by Trump's angry claims that Europe is exploiting the United States by underspending on defense.</s>US President Donald Trump told fellow western leaders at the recent G7 summit that the NATO alliance is "as bad as NAFTA" -- a North American trade deal that he has threatened to tear up.

The comment, which will increase concerns that the Atlantic allies are headed for a bust up at their summit next month, was reported Thursday by US news site Axios and confirmed by a European diplomat.

The G7 summit in Quebec earlier this month was already known to have been a frosty affair, with Trump facing off alone against the leaders of the world's next six richest democracies over trade.

But his barbed aside underlines that the US leader's hostility to multilateral agreement extends to the NATO alliance, the cornerstone of Western security for decades.

News of his remark came just as the White House and the Kremlin announced that Trump and NATO's great foe President Vladimir Putin of Russia will meet in Finland straight after the alliance's summit.

The NATO allies are due to meet on July 11-12 in Brussels for a summit that will be clouded by Trump's angry claims that Europe is exploiting the United States by underspending on defense.</s>Image copyright Getty Images Image caption James D Melville is a career diplomat who has held senior posts in several European countries

The US ambassador to Estonia is resigning, reportedly in frustration at remarks made by President Donald Trump about America's European allies.

James D Melville said Mr Trump's comments on Nato and the EU had brought forward his decision to retire, Foreign Policy magazine reports.

The magazine was quoting from a private Facebook post by the envoy.

Mr Trump accuses Europeans of unfairly expecting America to shoulder the costs of the Nato alliance.

He has also imposed trade tariffs on some EU industries.

Other US diplomats left their posts early in recent months:

In January, US ambassador to Panama John Feeley resigned saying he was no longer able to serve under President Trump.

A month earlier, Elizabeth Shackelford resigned from her post in Nairobi where she had worked for the US mission to Somalia, saying she was quitting because the US had abandoned human rights as a priority, Foreign Policy reports

In the private Facebook post seen by Foreign Policy, Mr Melville reportedly told friends: "For the president to say the EU was 'set up to take advantage of the United States, to attack our piggy bank', or that 'Nato is as bad as Nafta [the North American Free Trade Agreement]' is not only factually wrong, but proves to me that it's time to go."

Mr Melville is a career diplomat and took up his position as ambassador in Estonia in 2015 after being nominated by then President Barack Obama.

He had previously held senior diplomatic posts in several European countries and speaks Russian, German and French, according to his biography on the US state department website.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Nato has stepped up exercises in the Baltic states in recent years

A state department spokesperson confirmed Mr Melville's intention to resign on 29 July.

President Trump reiterated his criticism of fellow Nato members on Friday while on a flight from Washington to his private golf club in New Jersey.

He told reporters on board Air Force One that countries including Germany, Spain and France had to increase their financial contributions to the bloc.

"It's not fair what they've done to the United States," he said. "The United States is paying much more disproportionately to anyone else."

His remarks come less than two weeks before a Nato summit in Brussels.</s>Donald Trump Jr. was in Chicago Thursday to discuss potential uses for Trump Tower.Trump Jr. and other representatives from Trump Tower met with Alderman Brendan Reilly of the 42nd Ward at City Hall to discuss the 65,000 square foot space.Reilly said there was no discussion of politics at the meeting. The meeting was set up two weeks ago when Trump officials reached out to Reilly and the White House did not play a role in the meeting."We kept it strictly to business. The Trump family knows how I feel about President Trump," Reilly said. "I disagree with almost all of his policies, but in these meetings I divorce policies from business."Reilly said the Trump Tower representatives wanted to understand the parameters that had been set for the property, including the possibility of food and beverage service along the riverfront and flexible workspace in the building.</s>The U.S. ambassador to Estonia has announced his resignation, saying he is taking the “honorable course” in the wake of President Donald Trump’s “inaccurate” slams against the European Union, Foreign Policy reported Friday.

“For the president to say the EU was ‘set up to take advantage of the United States, to attack our piggy bank,’ or that ‘NATO is as bad as NAFTA’ is not only factually wrong, but proves to me that it’s time to go,” James D. Melville Jr. wrote in a private Facebook post obtained by Foreign Policy.

Pres. Trump: "We love the countries of the European Union. But the European Union, of course, was set up to take advantage of the United States." https://t.co/WY5hUuaonz pic.twitter.com/KI2nyWTymU — ABC News (@ABC) June 28, 2018

Melville has worked as a diplomat for 33 years and been in Estonia since 2015. He has served under six presidents. Melville said he was already planning to retire, but will cut short his service and step down at the end of July over Trump’s comments.

He said in his post that a foreign service officer is “programmed to support policy,” and that if there “comes a point when one can no longer do so ... the honorable course is to resign.”

Melville said he leaves with “deep gratitude for being able to serve my nation with integrity for many years, and with great confidence that America, which is and has always been, great, will someday return to being right.”

“We love the countries of the European Union,” Trump said. “But the European Union, of course, was set up to take advantage of the United States, to attack our piggy bank.”

Melville’s announcement comes less than two weeks before a critical NATO summit in Brussels and Trump’s planned meeting in Helsinki with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Fears are mounting that the president will repeat his performance at the Group of Seven summit and exacerbate tensions with long-time American allies.

The White House has not yet commented on Melville’s resignation or his Facebook message.</s>James Melville, the U.S. ambassador to Estonia, announced in a private Facebook post that he was resigning after Trump's comment about Europe, NATO.

In a private Facebook post obtained by Foreign Policy, the U.S. ambassador to Estonia, James Melville, announced his resignation. A career diplomat whose career began 33 years ago, Melville has served as ambassador to Estonia since 2015.

Although he was due to retire soon, Melville decided to end his career early, following President Donald Trump’s comments about Europe and NATO.

Explaining his early resignation, the ambassador wrote the following.

“A Foreign Service Officer’s DNA is programmed to support policy and we’re schooled right from the start, that if there ever comes a point where one can no longer do so, particularly if one is in a position of leadership, the honorable course is to resign. Having served under six presidents and 11 secretaries of state, I never really thought it would reach that point for me.”

Melville then went on to criticize the president, slamming his relationship with European allies and NATO.

In a final jab at Trump, the U.S. ambassador to Estonia referenced the president’s famous slogan, “Make America Great Again,” writing the following.

Several State Department officials talked to Foreign Policy under the condition of anonymity, describing James Melville as a professional, typically unfazed by domestic politics.

“I just wonder who’s next,” state department officials told the magazine, after stressing how surprising Melville’s decision was, considering the now former U.S. ambassador to Estonia “had it all” in his diplomatic career.

As Foreign Policy notes, Melville is not the first U.S. diplomat to resign because of Trump. Many of them have done so, some quietly, and some not. For instance, the U.S. ambassador to Panama, John Feeley, resigned and then published a column in the Washington Post, titled “Why I could no longer serve this president.”

In the op-ed, Feeley cited Trump’s refusal to condemn white supremacists and neo-Nazis as the main reason for his resignation, adding that Trump’s travel ban, border wall, DREAMers policy, as well as the withdrawal from the Paris climate accord and the Trans-Pacific Partnership had, along with tariffs, accelerated his decision.

Similarly, Elizabeth Shackelford, “a rising star in the diplomatic corps in Africa,” as Foreign Policy put it, quit due to Donald Trump and former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s “disdain” of American diplomacy.

Many have criticized the way the president has treated Europe, NATO, Canada, and ally countries. For instance, Centre for Policy Studies’ Capx called Donald Trump’s treatment of allies a “geopolitical disaster,” claiming that Trump is signaling that he is impressed by autocrats and exercise of arbitrary power, yet hostile toward democracies.

Tensions between the Trump administration, therefore the United States, and the European Union have been escalating for quite some time. As the Inquisitr recently reported, the European Commission authored a special report on Donald Trump’s 20 percent tariff on all U.S. imports of European Union-assembled cars, warning that the tariffs could jeopardize the U.S., apart from negatively impacting European economies.</s>The U.S. ambassador to Estonia says he has resigned over frustrations with President Donald Trump's comments about the European Union and the treatment of Washington's European allies.

In a private Facebook message posted Friday, James D. Melville wrote: "For the President to say EU was 'set up to take advantage of the United States, to attack our piggy bank,' or that 'NATO is as bad as NAFTA' is not only factually wrong, but proves to me that it's time to go."

Melville is a senior U.S. career diplomat who has served as the American ambassador in the Baltic nation and NATO member of Estonia since 2015. He has served the State Department for 33 years.

The U.S. Embassy in Tallinn did not immediately comment.</s>The U.S. ambassador to Estonia has resigned over frustrations with President Donald Trump's comments about the European Union and his treatment of Washington's European allies.

In a private Facebook message posted Friday, James D. Melville wrote: "For the President to say EU was 'set up to take advantage of the United States, to attack our piggy bank,' or that 'NATO is as bad as NAFTA' is not only factually wrong, but proves to me that it's time to go."

Melville was referring to Trump's recent comments at news conferences and on social media.

Melville stressed that a U.S. foreign service officer's "DNA is programmed to support policy and we're schooled right from the start, that if there ever comes a point where one can no longer do so, particularly if one is in a position of leadership, the honorable course is to resign."

Melville is a senior U.S. career diplomat who has served as the American ambassador in the Baltic nation and NATO member of Estonia since 2015. He has served at U.S. Embassies in Berlin, London and Moscow, among other postings.

"Having served under six presidents and 11 secretaries of state, I never really thought it would reach that point for me," he wrote, referring to a career with the State Department that started in the mid-1980s.

The U.S. Embassy in Tallinn confirmed to The Associated Press on Saturday that Melville "announced his intent to retire from the Foreign Service effective July 29 after 33 years of public service." It did not elaborate.

Foreign Policy magazine said Melville is one of the many senior U.S. diplomats who have resigned because of Trump's policies.
The U.S. Ambassador to Estonia, James D. Melville Jr., announces his resignation from that post because of U.S. President Donald Trump's comments about NATO and the European Union. He was appointed to the post in December 2015.