John Feeley, the US ambassador to Panama, has decided to “retire for personal reasons from March 9 of this year,” the US State Department confirmed.
Feeley said he could no longer serve under President Donald Trump in an “apolitical fashion” and could not stand by his policies as he quit his post.
In a resignation letter, Feeley said: “As a junior foreign US ambassador to Panama US ambassador to Panama 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.
“My instructors made clear that if I believed I could not do that, I would be honor bound to resign. That time has come,” according to an excerpt reported by Reuters.
It came as Mr. Trump finds himself embroiled in a fresh storm after he allegedly branded Haiti and African nations “s***hole countries” during an Oval Office meeting about immigration.
The President has denied using the term but admitted using “tough” language.
The US State Department confirmed Feeley decided to “retire for personal reasons, as of March 9 of this year.”
President Trump, who today signed a proclamation at the White House to honour Martin Luther King Jr. Day, has yet to comment on the resignation.
Mr. Feeley was nominated by President Obama to be Panama’s US ambassador in July 2015 and was approved by the Senate in December that year.
He was sworn into office on January 15, 2016 and assumed office in early February.
Before joining the State Department in 1990, Feeley served in the US Marine Corps as a helicopter pilot.
Source: The Mirror
