President Donald Trump’s administration is recalling nearly 30 diplomats from their posts as ambassadors and other senior positions in U.S. embassies in a move aimed at reshaping America’s diplomatic posture abroad with personnel seen as fully aligned with Trump’s “America First” priorities.

Two State Department officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal personnel moves, said that heads of mission in at least 29 countries were informed last week that their assignments would end in January.

All of those affected had been appointed during President Joe Biden’s administration but had survived an initial purge in the early months of Trump’s second term, which primarily targeted political appointees.

That changed on Wednesday when they began receiving departure notices from officials in Washington.

Ambassadors serve at the pleasure of the president, although they typically remain in their posts for three to four years.

The officials noted that those affected by the reshuffle would not lose their jobs in the diplomatic corps but would return to Washington for other assignments if they chose to.

The State Department declined to comment on specific numbers or names of ambassadors affected but defended the changes, describing them as “a standard process in any administration.”

It emphasized that an ambassador is “the personal representative of the president, and the president has the right to ensure that individuals in these countries advance the America First agenda.”

Africa was the most affected region, with ambassadors recalled from 13 countries: Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Gabon, Côte d’Ivoire, Madagascar, Mauritius, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Somalia, and Uganda.

Asia came second, with ambassadorial changes in six countries: Fiji, Laos, the Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

Four European countries were affected (Armenia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Slovakia), along with two countries each in the Middle East (Algeria and Egypt), South and Central Asia (Nepal and Sri Lanka), and the Western Hemisphere (Guatemala and Suriname), according to the Associated Press.