You’re Fired: Trump Gives the Ax to Entire Committee Full of Anti-American Historians
President Donald Trump recently dismissed all members of the Advisory Committee on Past Diplomatic Documentation, a non-partisan group that advises the State Department on the publication of the Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) series. The terminations were made without any clarification, adn the decision has drawn criticism, particularly toward former committee member Timothy Naftali, who has been accused of having anti-trump views. Naftali’s termination was announced publicly, prompting discussions regarding biases within the committee.
The committee is responsible for ensuring that vital documents and reports regarding U.S. foreign policy are published accurately and in a timely manner,including making classified documents accessible to the public when appropriate. The chair of the committee, James Goldgeier, and other members have faced scrutiny for their perceived biases against Trump, especially during his handling of significant issues like the COVID-19 pandemic and social unrest in 2020.
Goldgeier has voiced concerns about the committee’s disbandment,highlighting its congressional mandate to exist. Despite the dismissals, a senior State Department official indicated that there are plans to maintain the committee, suggesting that it may simply involve appointing new members rather than eliminating the group entirely. This situation raises questions about the influence of perceived political bias on historical documentation and record-keeping in U.S.foreign policy.
President Donald Trump fired all members of the supposedly non-partisan Advisory Committee on Historical Diplomatic Documentation last month via .
“On behalf of President Donald Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position on the Advisory Committee on Historical Diplomatic Documentation is terminated effective immediately,” White House liaison to the State Department Cate Dillon wrote in one of the dismissal s, according to The Washington Post.
No reason for the terminations were provided to the Post.
However, after one of the committee’s former members, Canadian-American historian Timothy Naftali, announced his termination on X, critics on the right discussed examples of what they believed to be his anti-Trump and anti-American bias.
This you? pic.twitter.com/RvNKyKpHRy
— Spitfire (@DogRightGirl) May 1, 2025
The Advisory Committee on Historical Diplomatic Documentation advises the State Department on the publication of the Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) series, which is an official documentary record of America’s foreign policy, according to the U.S. Office of the Historian.
The committee’s job is to ensure all of the papers, letters, and reports that are included in the FRUS series are chosen carefully, tell the true story, and get published on time. The committee also checks to make certain that classified documents are properly made available to the public.
Naftali wasn’t the only former member who’s faced criticism for alleged anti-Trump and anti-American bias. So has the committee’s chairman, James Goldgeier, a professor at American University’s School of International Service.
Can you imagine being known as a “Trump ally”?
— Jim Goldgeier (@JimGoldgeier) February 10, 2021
Goldgeier was especially critical of Trump during the COVID pandemic and Black Lives Matter riots of 2020.
“It wasn’t enough for Trump to kill Americans through his imcompetence and disinterest in dealing with the pandemic,” he posted to X on July 20, 2020. “Now he’s got DHS attacking peaceful Americans to distract from his failure to care about the pandemic. It’s startling that he has enablers in this effort.”
Speaking with the Post, Goldgeier admitted that the committee has been busy still dealing with records from former President Ronald Reagan’s administration because of a rule saying that the federal government must make classified historical documents public only after 30 years.
“Right now, the office is still trying to get volumes out from the Reagan era,” he said. “There’s no work that’s being done here regarding the current administration.”
He also complained about the committee ostensibly being disbanded, arguing that it’s mandated by Congress to exist.
“It just seems to me like they just got a list from all the agencies [of similar committees] … I can’t imagine they looked much into what any of the particular ones did,” he said. “And I don’t know that they understood that this one is congressionally mandated.”
However, a senior State Department official confirmed to the Post that “there is a plan in place to maintain the committee,” meaning, it would appear, that the Trump administration simply wants to replace its current members instead of getting rid of the committee altogether.
The suspected reason was, again, because of perceived bias.
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