BIG UPDATE:
Apparently the reporting on this was inaccurate. According to Matt Lee of the AP, this resignation happened before Trump’s comments:
All: The #US embassy in #Panama announced Ambassador Feely's resignation yesterday (before the comments). Also, he had told colleagues of his intention to leave last September.
— Matt Lee (@APDiploWriter) January 12, 2018
“Everyone has a line that they don’t want to cross and we respect that. We are sorry to see him go” -Undersecretary of State Goldstein tells me of #Panama Amb though he says Feeley sent resignation letter in Dec for differences with Trump Admin before #ShitHole comments.
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) January 12, 2018
I don’t know why Reuters chose to put this story out now, but I can imagine they were hoping the two things would be conflated.
So you can disregard the story below.
– – –
The US Ambassador to Panama has just resigned, citing how he can no longer work for Trump. This is presumably over Trump’s comments from the DACA meeting yesterday:
Reuters: The U.S. ambassador to Panama has written a letter to the State Department announcing his resignation saying he resigns on principle and can no longer serve the Trump administration
— Jackson Proskow (@JProskowGlobal) January 12, 2018
U.S. State Department has confirmed the departure of the country's ambassador to Panama saying he has decided to "retire for personal reasons" as of 9 March
— Sky News Newsdesk (@SkyNewsBreak) January 12, 2018
The US ambassador to Panama has resigned from his post on principle, writing in a resignation letter to the State Department that he can no longer serve the Trump administration, according to Reuters.
The US State Department confirmed the departure of John D Feeley, saying he decided to “retire for personal reasons, as of 9 March this year”.
“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 honour-bound to resign. That time has come,” Mr Feeley said.
Welp.