Nick Checker, who moved into the top job at the State Department’s Africa Bureau earlier this month, spent most of the past decade at the CIA. Unlike his two predecessors who have occupied the post since President Trump took office a year ago – both career diplomats – Checker has been at State for only four months.
As ‘Senior Bureau Official’ – the designation the administration is using for acting positions in many agencies – Checker is charged with managing day-to-day relations with 49 counties in west, east, central and southern Africa.
Although Africa is mostly overshadowed in DC by highly publicized crises in other regions, Africa’s strategic geopolitical position, as well as its vast resources, promise to keep American policymakers engaged during 2026. The President’s unorthodox approach to foreign policy – using Truth Social posts as a primary communication channel and sidelining experienced diplomats – has devolved much of U.S. high-visibility diplomacy involving Africa to the President’s chosen envoy, Massad Boulos – and Trump himself.
A litany of administration policy shifts have resulted in major disruptions across Africa – dismantling of USAID and drastic cuts in foreign assistance, imposition of huge tariffs, immigration and travel bans that have made Africa the most restricted region in the world. Late last month, the State Department recalled 15 career ambassadors from Africa posts, leaving 35 of the 52 U.S. embassies across the continent with Senate-confirmed chiefs-of-mission.
Last year saw a rapid rise in U.S. military operations – in Somalia and the Sahel region, as well as the highly publicized missile attack on Nigeria on December 25th. More attacks may be on the way. The proxy war in Sudan, which has now lasted more than a thousand days, has not been eased by diplomatic efforts to date. The peace accord between the DR Congo and Rwanda that Trump has touted as a signature achievement has failed to end the fighting.
Commander of the European Union Military Assistance Mission in Mozambique, Commodore César Pires Correia (left) accompanying Nicholas Checker, then Deputy Assistant Secretary for Southern Africa and Foreign Assistance, and Abigail Dressel, Chargé d’Affaires at the US Embassy in Mozambique on a visit to EUMAM MOZ) headquarters in Maputo.
President Trump joins President Kagame of Rwanda and President Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of the Congo as they sign the Washington Accords, a major peace deal, at the Donald J. Trump Institute for Peace in Washington, D.C