U.S. officials are making clear that the announcement Friday of an ambassador's decision to resign is in no way connected to President Donald Trump's reported use of a disparaging term to describe Haiti, El Salvador and some African countries at a meeting a day
Ambassador to Panama John Feeley resigned Friday, announcing he felt he could no longer serve Trump, but Reuters reported that Feeley had informed the State Department of his resignation on Dec. 27.
"As a junior foreign service officer, I signed an oath to serve faithfully the president and his administration in an apolitical fashion, even when I might not agree with certain policies. My instructors made clear that if I believed I could not do that, I would be honor bound to resign. That time has come," Feeley said in a resignation letter read to Reuters.
Feeley was one of the State Department's most senior officers and Latin America specialists. He served as the No. 2 official in the State Department bureau dealing with Latin America. He was deputy chief of mission at the American embassy in Mexico and was the director for Central American affairs in Washington, D.C.