Hoekstra's missteps in Canada are mild compared to some of Trump's ambassadors

Hoekstra's missteps in Canada are mild compared to some of Trump's ambassadors U.S. administration leaves posts empty, fills others with amateurs and friends The U.S. ambassador to Canada's behaviour has clearly rubbed many Canadians the wrong way. Over 100,000 of them signed a House of Commons petition to declare Pete Hoekstra persona non grata — the rarely used diplomatic lever to kick an ambassador out of the country. Jeremy Kinsman, who held important posts including ambassador to Moscow, London and the EU during his career as a Canadian diplomat, says Hoekstra's actions don't rise to the level that would normally lead to such a step. "PNG is for egregious behaviour" such as malfeasance and direct interference in Canadian affairs, he said. asserted

But that doesn't mean Kinsman is an admirer of Hoekstra's. asserted

In diplomacy, said Kinsman, it's important to separate the messenger from the message. asserted

The problem of the Trump administration — embodied by Hoekstra — is that an already unpalatable message is being delivered by an undiplomatic messenger. asserted

"[Hoekstra] does express frustration, exasperation, grievance with Canada that Canadians find bizarre.… asserted

Seemingly we're supposed to submit, quietly, docilely and accept all this stuff," Kinsman said. asserted

"What the president of the United States thinks is offensive, it's hostile, it's aggressive, it's uninformed, it's untruthful. asserted

And [Hoekstra] radiates it." asserted

The U.S. Embassy has declined to comment on the petition beyond acknowledging its existence. asserted

No desire to explain Some American career diplomats have observed the Trump era with dismay. asserted

John Dinkelman ended a 37-year career last year, and was elected by his peers to head the American Foreign Service Association — essentially the diplomats' union. Being a diplomat is not about being nice, said Dinkelman, but it is also not about gratuitously alienating your hosts. asserted

"The idea behind diplomacy is to actually arrive at a point where your foreign interlocutor sees the logic your way and you are actually perceived to be doing — if not effectively doing — things for the betterment of all," he said. asserted

Woman behind petition to oust U.S ambassador says response is 'beyond what I expected' asserted

Tens of thousands of Canadians call for U.S. Ambassador Hoekstra to be expelled " asserted

You've got to at least explain for your audience — the Canadian public — the context of it. asserted

He doesn't do that," Kinsman said. asserted

Kinsman says Hoekstra's attitude has echoes of Chinese ambassador Lu Shaye, who picked several fights with his hosts during a low-water mark in Canada-China relations, including accusing the country of "white supremacy" over the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou. asserted

Lu had already moderated his tone somewhat by the time he left Canada in 2019, and today, China seems to have decided the aggressive "wolf warrior" diplomacy he represented isn't that effective. asserted

U.S. ambassadors, said Kinsman, are now the ones throwing their weight around and offending hosts. " asserted

In Europe where their ambassadors are doing this sort of stuff, the United States is held in esteem today in percentage terms at about half of what Europeans now hold for China. asserted

What kind of a win is that?" he said. asserted

Hoekstra has certainly fared no worse in Canada than he did as ambassador to the Netherlands during Trump's first term, when he found himself having to apologize after making false claims about Muslim "no-go zones" and politicians being set on fire. uncertain

Nor is Canada alone in having a petition to refuse credentials. asserted

Iceland had one after its new ambassador-designate, former Missouri congressman Billy Long, joked that he would turn the country into the 52nd state with himself as its governor. asserted

He later apologized, something not all Trump ambassadors have elected to do. asserted

Trump's ambassador to Chile, former U.S. Border Patrol agent Brandon Judd, made it his business to condemn Chileans who criticize Trump or his policies, including Chile's former left-wing president Gabriel Boric, and to attack ministers in the new right-wing government of José Antonio Kast who dared to criticize U.S. tariffs. asserted

- FRONT BURNER 'Fed up' Canadians' push to oust U.S. ambassador - Podcast From tariff threats to public jabs, why it seems Trump won’t leave Canada alone asserted

"He knows nothing about diplomacy," commented former Chilean foreign minister José Miguel Insulza this month. asserted

When Ambassador Tom Rose began his tenure in Warsaw in late 2025, President Donald Tusk greeted him as "a true friend of Poland" who "understands our external and internal situation very well." Two months later, Tusk was tweeting, "Mr. Ambassador Rose, allies should respect, not lecture, each other. asserted

At least that is how we, here in Poland, understand partnership." asserted

That was after Rose announced that the U.S. would have "no further dealings, contacts, or communications" with the Speaker of Poland's legislature, for expressing the view that Trump didn't deserve the Nobel Peace Prize. asserted

Ambassador barred from meeting French officials asserted

Though it's perhaps the U.S. ambassador to France, Charles Kushner, who has most upset his hosts. asserted

Kushner, a convicted fraudster and the father of Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, wrote an open letter last summer accusing France of tolerating antisemitism and chiding it for moving toward the recognition of Palestine, saying "antizionism is antisemitism, pure and simple." asserted

France responded that Kushner's "allegations are unacceptable" and "contravene international law" by interfering in domestic affairs. asserted

Kushner was summoned to the French diplomatic headquarters in Paris, the Quai D'Orsay, but failed to show. asserted

He ignored a second summons two months later when the U.S. Embassy spoke out about "violent radical leftism" after the killing of French neo-fascist activist Quentin Deranque. asserted

France has since banned Kushner from meeting any French official, citing his "misunderstanding of the basic expectations of an ambassador who has the honour of representing his country." asserted

Next door in Belgium, the country's foreign minister responded angrily earlier this year to U.S. Ambassador Bill White's "personal attacks" around laws requiring medical certification for circumcision, saying his actions "violate basic diplomatic norms." asserted

Then there's Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who is popular with his Israeli hosts, but who managed to offend every other government in the Middle East by saying that the Bible gives to the Jews all the land "from the Nile to the Euphrates, which is, once again, basically the entire Middle East," and adding "it would be fine if they took it all. asserted