Guest article by Melissa Toufanian
Earlier this week, Georgetown professor Matthew Kroenig posted a photo of the State Department’s main lobby, the first thing most foreign diplomats and visitors see when arriving for meetings, events, or negotiations. Kroenig wrote, “The US State Department lobby used to display the flags of the roughly 200 countries with which the US maintains diplomatic relations. Now, it displays 200 American flags, to remind State Department employees who they work for.” The post on X went viral, garnering more than 2 million views and sparking responses from former ambassadors, journalists, and even celebrity chef and humanitarian, José Andrés.
Replacing the flags of nearly 200 nations, which hung in the lobby for decades, with solely our own is incredibly fitting for an administration whose approach to diplomacy is “America First,” and too often America alone.
The change, made under Secretary Marco Rubio and cheered on by Kroenig and others in the Trump administration, makes clear they don’t understand or respect the State Department’s public servants.
I spent nearly a decade at the Department of State, starting as an intern and leaving as senior advisor to the Secretary. Through public diplomacy and outreach at home and abroad, I worked with thousands of American diplomats in more than 60 countries, and the ones I met clearly understood their job as advancing American interests and values around the world.
The men and women of the State Department don’t need to be reminded who they serve. They’re among the most patriotic, dedicated, and hardest-working colleagues I’ve ever had, and they represent the best of our country. Often far from home and family, our diplomats evacuate Americans when crises hit, coordinate relief efforts, and work tirelessly to bring wrongfully detained Americans home from foreign prisons. They build people-to-people ties, support anti-corruption efforts around the world, resettle refugees, and help Americans who lose their passports abroad get home safely. Their efforts rarely make news back home, but their work is critical.
The year after 9/11, applications to join the Foreign Service surged, surpassing more than 30,000, with many pursuing a career in diplomacy because they wanted to serve and protect our country. Not one diplomat I’ve ever worked with needed a wall of nearly 200 American flags to remind them of their mission and purpose.
As Tom Countryman, who served in the Foreign Service for more than three decades, said in his 2017 farewell message, “When I have the opportunity to speak to audiences across this amazing land, I explain ‘We do not have a Department of State – we do not have a foreign policy – because we love foreigners. We do it because we love Americans.’”
The flag change was unveiled in June to celebrate America’s 250th, something many working at the Department believed was temporary. As described by the New York Times, the new American flags could be “the highest density of stars and stripes anywhere outside a flag factory.” Now seemingly permanent, a lobby that once told visitors the United States works alongside the world now tells them it stands alone.
But the most concerning element of the Trump administration’s decor change, and Kroenig’s defense, is the message it’s sending to everyone working at the State Department: public servants must be reminded of who they serve, or that somehow their loyalty is in doubt. It’s unfair to the people who willingly swear an oath to our Constitution, dedicate their lives to service around the world, and who sometimes never come home.
I think of the diplomatic giants and unsung heroes who walked through the hall of flags, once a vibrant reminder of just how far and wide the work of diplomacy spans. And I think of the names inscribed on the memorial plaques in that same lobby, honoring diplomats who died serving overseas. As of May 2026, the plaques display more than 300 names. Anne Smedinghoff’s name is listed. Anne, a foreign service officer, was only 25 years old when killed in Afghanistan while delivering books to Afghan children. Others were killed in terrorist attacks and embassy bombings, in car accidents, and by disease in places with little medical care. They knew serving overseas carried risk, and they went anyway.
The diplomats listed on the memorial plaque never needed a wall of flags to remind them who they worked for. Neither do the thousands of dedicated and patriotic public servants who walk past their names every morning.
Melissa Toufanian is the Managing Director of Navigator Research, where she leads the organization’s public opinion research and messaging work. She previously served at the U.S. Department of State during the Biden and Obama administrations, including as a Senior Advisor and Deputy Assistant Secretary.
As an American who loathes this regime I am appalled at the behavior of this administration. It goes without saying that I hope our allies know that a majority of Americans are not good with this.
As an Australian, thus a foreigner, your president is basically saying “f you” to us all. Is it any wonder we are now turning our backs on the once friendly USA?