Overview

• Fitrell, a 30-year career diplomat who has led the State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs, will step down in mid-July after guiding the administration’s Africa agenda.
• President Trump’s Africa policy team has been undercut by tough MAGA-aligned vetting and regular turnover, leaving few experienced officials in place.
• Jonathan Pratt is slated to succeed Fitrell as the State Department’s top Africa diplomat, while Massad Boulos will become Washington’s most senior Africa official.
• Fitrell’s exit intensifies uncertainty over whether the administration can host a planned Africa Leaders summit on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York this September.
• During his tenure, Fitrell championed a commercial diplomacy push to boost U.S. trade with African nations and suggested deeper U.S. involvement in Sudan civil war negotiations.