President Donald Trump’s top diplomat in Africa, Troy Fitrell, will retire from the State Department next month, and Jonathan Pratt, the Bureau of African Affairs deputy assistant secretary, will take his position.
“After a long and distinguished career, the Department of State’s Bureau of African Affairs Senior Bureau Official Ambassador Troy Fitrell is retiring as planned,” a State Department spokesperson said.
“The Bureau of African Affairs Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Jonathan Pratt will step into the Senior Bureau Official role after Ambassador Fitrell’s departure,” the spokesperson added.
Fitrell, a foreign service diplomat, formerly served as the US ambassador to Guinea. He has held various positions at the State Department throughout Africa, including director of the Offices of Western and Southern African Affairs. He also served as the Deputy Chief of Mission in the US embassies in Ethiopia and Mauritius.
Fitrell has been leading the State Department’s African bureau since the Senate-confirmed assistant secretary position remains unfilled.
Fitrell, who has been a diplomat for over 30 years, recently stated that the Trump administration is shifting the United States’ approach to Africa from “one rooted primarily in development assistance to a strategy that prioritizes robust commercial engagement.”
Pratt, who will follow Fitrell, previously served as the United States ambassador to Djibouti from 2021-2023. He also held additional missions with the State Department, serving in Pakistan, Sudan, and Angola.
This is the second high-profile figure to recently step away from the administration.
The military commander responsible for the Pentagon’s intensifying operations against vessels in the Caribbean Sea, which the Trump administration alleges are engaged in drug smuggling, announced his resignation.
Adm. Alvin Holsey, the officer in charge of the U.S. Southern Command, which supervises all operations in Central and South America, is departing from his position, despite the Pentagon’s swift deployment of approximately 10,000 troops in the region for what it describes as a significant counterdrug and terrorist initiative.
The reason for Admiral Holsey’s abrupt departure, occurring less than a year into a typically three-year tenure and amidst the most significant operation of his 37-year career, remains unexplained. However, one current and one former U.S. official, both speaking anonymously on personnel issues, indicated that Admiral Holsey had expressed apprehensions about the mission and the assaults on the purported drug vessels.
In a statement, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made no mention of any friction with his four-star commander.
“On behalf of the Department of War,” Hegseth said, adding, “We extend our deepest gratitude to Admiral Alvin Holsey for his more than 37 years of distinguished service to our nation as he plans to retire at year’s end.”
Some officials at the Pentagon said there were policy tensions concerning Venezuela that the admiral did not support, which were not aligned with the Trump administration.
The announcement of the admiral’s retirement follows a report by The New York Times indicating that the Trump administration had clandestinely permitted the C.I.A. to execute covert operations in Venezuela.
President Donald Trump said that he had sanctioned the clandestine operation and indicated that the United States was contemplating strikes on Venezuelan soil.
These developments coincide with the U.S. military’s consideration of potential escalation, formulating alternatives for Trump, which include strikes within Venezuela.
The Trump administration has justified its assaults on drug trafficking suspects as a form of national self-defense amid a surge in overdose fatalities in the United States.
The magnitude and extent of the U.S. military augmentation in the Caribbean region are substantial. Approximately 10,000 U.S. troops are now stationed, predominantly at facilities in Puerto Rico, along with 2,200 Marines aboard amphibious assault ships.
The Navy possesses eight warships and one submarine in the Caribbean.
