WhenUSAmbassadorCharlesKushnerskippedan officialsummonsfromFrances foreign ministryearlier this weekover accusations that he was meddling indomestic politics, it sparked a diplomaticclash rarelyseen between close allies. But in the second era of US PresidentDonald Trump, such episodes are becomingincreasingly common.

Kushner the father of Trumps son-in-lawJared Kushnerre-posted a post on Xfrom the Trump administration regarding the death of a far-right activist in Lyon, which hasbecome a lightning rod in far-right circles. French officials saw the repost as unacceptable interference in domestic affairs by a diplomat.

Read moreFrom prison to Paris: Ambassador Charles Kushner at the centre of a Franco-American rift

The dispute escalated when Kushnerfailed toappear at the Quai dOrsay after being summoned, prompting Foreign MinisterJean-Nol Barrotto block his access to ministers. Kushnereventuallyspoke by phone with Barroton Tuesday.

The clash isjust the latest exampleof a broader pattern: a new generation oflargely inexperienced,Trump-appointed diplomats whosebrash communication styles and lack of decorum have sometimes unnerved their host governments.

Watch moreKilling of far-right activist sparks tensions across France

Social media envoys

Ambassador Bill White in Belgiumhas drawn criticism forhis sometimes Trumpian style online. He posted anall-caps message on Xwith questionable punctuation on February 16,demanding Belgian authorities DROP THE RIDICULOUS AND ANTI SEMITIC 'PROSECUTION'" against three Jewish religious figures in Antwerp.

The case concerned legal action taken against three men accused of performing circumcisions contrary to Belgian law, which stipulates thatonly a doctorcan perform a circumcision.White framed it as anti-Semitism.

After being urged by the Belgian government to refrain from interfering in internal matters, heescalated the situationin another social media post,calling Belgian Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke"very rude andquite obnoxious.

I was told he does not like my great President, White added.

White also targeted Conner Rousseau, leader of the Flemishcentre-left partyVooruit, after Rousseau compared Trumps crackdown on immigrationtoNazi-era tactics. White demanded a public apology anddeclared that Rousseau wasbarred from entering the United Statesa threat he withdrewfour days later.

Ideologyover diplomacy

InPoland, Trumpappointed Thomas Rose, a conservative commentator openly critical of Prime MinisterDonald Tusk. Rose hasfrequentlyattacked the Polish government while insisting PolandremainsTrumps top European ally.

Tensions flaredin FebruaryafterWlodzimierzCzarzasty, speaker of Polands lower house and leader of the New Leftparty, accused Trump ofdestabilising international institutions. He added that he would not support Trumps Nobel Peace Prize nomination, saying he doesnt deserve it.

In response,Rose announced he wouldcut off contactwith the speaker, warning that such statements risked damaging relations between Warsaw and Washington.

Luxembourgs new US ambassador,businesswomanStacey Feinberg, also made waves during her Senate confirmation hearing. She said her goal wastohumblyeducate LuxembourgaboutChinas nefarious intentions,arguing the country lacked a sufficientunderstandingof the risks posed by Beijing.

Lucifer does not show up looking like the devil,she said.

Read moreCharming Trump: The flattery diplomacy displays of 2025

Her remarks irritated bothLuxembourgofficials andChina. Luxembourgs government responded pointedly that it did not need to be lectured about either superpowerandwasnot a vassalof any nation.

Germany, meanwhile,remainswithout a US ambassador more than a year after Trumps return to the White House a notable gap in one of Washingtons most important European allies.

US ambassadorto TurkeyTom Barrack, a former real estate developer(who also serves as Trumps special envoy to Syria)shockedtheLebanese journalistsshouting questions during a press conferenceby urging them to behave in acivilisedmanner and notanimalistic, tyingtheir behaviour to the problem with whats happening in the regionlanguage widely viewed as inappropriate for a senior diplomat.

Elsewhere, Trumps envoys have generated controversy as well.Former Louisiana governorJeff Landry waspointedly appointedspecial envoy to Greenlandand has since openlypromoted Trumpsviews on annexingthe Danish autonomous territory.

Read moreTaking over Greenland, a long-standing US obsession

Amateur hour

Theseincidents reflect a broader trend: many of Trumps European appointees are political outsiders rather than career diplomats a choice that some see assheer amateurism,andone that raises questions about both competence and intentions.

Andrew Gawthorpe, a lecturer specialisingin US foreign policy at LeidenUniversity, notedthatdiplomaticpostsin European allied nationshave long been filled bycampaigndonors or business figures because they'reviewed as just kind of like nice jobs nothing particularly complicatedabout it.

What sets this group apart, hesaid,is theirideological edge: media commentators, family members and allies who dont really care about diplomatic norms and are focused on boosting theirown profileswithin conservative US mediaand social circles.

Read moreTrumps marathon State of Union: Big claims and the questions he left unanswered

University of Dublin international politics professor Scott Lucas said that in Trump world, political loyalty often trumps experience.He citedKushnersrefusal of an official summons in Paris as a deliberate snuband notedthat similarbehaviourby other envoys risks pushing European countries closer together rather than weakening them.

The postings that are taking place now to the most important European countries ...they'renot being done for diplomacy.They'rebeing done because of the Trump camp mission, he said.

Inmanycases, the appointments appear designed to reward friends and familyor to advance Trumps ideological agendarather than to manage alliances.

Gawthorpestressedthat the resultlooks like carelessnessrather than a master plan.

Its just a group of people who dont really care about damaging theserelationships, he said.

ButLucas warnedthat even careless, performativeacts cancarry real consequences, from heightened tensions with France and Poland to a broader pattern of US policy driven more by partisan messaging than professional diplomacy.

Vacant posts in keynations like Germany Europes largest economy underscore that policy often flows from Trumpschoseninner circle ratherthan those with vital international experience or career diplomats.

The result is an American foreign policyincreasingly shaped by political loyalty and ideology with European allies left to navigate the fallout.

This article was adapted from theoriginalin French by Natasha Li.

Originally published on France24