Reuters/Eliana Aponte
The U.S. ambassador to Panama resigned “on principle,” noting that he cannot serve under the current administration any longer. John D. Feeley has served as ambassador to Panama since Dec. 9, 2015, after being nominated by President Obama. “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,” Feeley said in a statement. “My instructors made clear that if I believed I could not do that, I would be honor-bound to resign. That time has come.” The State Department reportedly confirmed Feeley’s departure but said he decided to “retire for personal reasons, as of March 9 this year.” According to the Associated Press, Feeley’s resignation came before Trump referred to several poor countries as “shitholes,” as the announcement was on the State Department’s website prior to the Thursday remarks.