When it comes to U.S. ambassadors, Donald Trump has two broad problems. The first is that the president hasn’t nominated enough people to serve in key diplomatic posts.

This isn’t due to a sclerotic Senate struggling to confirm nominees; rather, there are vacancies because the White House hasn’t bothered to nominate anyone. Even in the midst of international turmoil, the United States doesn’t have ambassadors in the United Arab Emirates, Germany, Iraq or even Venezuela, among many other countries.

But the other part of the problem is just as notable: In too many instances, where there are Senate-confirmed ambassadors, their tenures are not going well. The Wall Street Journal reported:

The top Democrats on the Senate and House foreign affairs committees urged the State Department to review the conduct of Kimberly Guilfoyle, the U.S. ambassador to Greece, citing a Wall Street Journal investigation into her efforts to promote gas deals with a Greek company across southeastern Europe.

New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, described concerns in a Thursday letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio about Guilfoyle’s “inappropriate uses of an official position,” including her inclusion of a registered lobbyist in meetings with foreign officials and her promotion of one of the lobbyist’s Greek clients and its joint venture with a Greek state-backed company.

It was two weeks ago when the Journal first reported on Guilfoyle, a former Fox News contributor who is also Donald Trump Jr.’s former fiancée, and her controversial tenure in Greece. Among the most problematic elements of her work has been Guilfoyle bringing lobbyist Christos Marafatsos to so many official meetings “that some foreign officials mistook him for her chief of staff.”

The same report added that the U.S. ambassador has promoted Marafatsos’ employer, Greek construction firm Aktor Group, for energy deals, to the puzzlement of officials in the region.

After that report, Shaheen wrote to Rubio, arguing that “such actions do not serve U.S. credibility overseas and risk undermining U.S. diplomacy.” The New Hampshire Democrat requested that the State Department outline “what steps have and will be taken to avoid undue influence and even the appearance of a conflict of interest.”

Similarly, Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, added, “If these reports are accurate, Ambassador Guilfoyle is unfit to represent the United States abroad and should be removed from her position.”

Time will tell what, if anything, comes of the controversy — a U.S. Embassy official in Greece said that Guilfoyle “continues to follow all State Department ethical guidelines” and that “any insinuation that she was operating outside of ethical guidelines are categorically false” — but it’s also worth emphasizing that she’s hardly the only ambassador from the Republican administration who’s causing controversy.

In South Africa, Ambassador L. Brent Bozell III, was summoned earlier this year by the country’s foreign minister after he accused the government of discriminating against white people and expressed indifference to the country’s court rulings.

In Belgium, Ambassador Bill White sparked an international incident of sorts when he accused Belgian officials of antisemitism via social media. Belgium’s government was not pleased, and it summoned the U.S. ambassador for an official conversation soon after.

In France, Ambassador Charles Kushner was briefly banned from meeting some members of the French government, which is ostensibly his job after his own politically provocative rhetoric.

In Arkansas, Ambassador Mike Huckabee, sparked a regional incident earlier this year when he suggested that it “would be fine” if Israel took lands stretching across the Middle East, from Egypt to Iraq.

In Poland, Ambassador Tom Rose boasted about severing ties with the speaker of Poland’s Parliament after the legislative leader said Trump did not deserve to win a Nobel Peace Prize.

In Canada, Ambassador Pete Hoekstra has proven so controversial that more than 200,000 Canadians signed a petition to Parliament calling for his ouster.

In Italy, Ambassador Tilman Fertitta has flaunted his wealth as a billionaire in ways that have proven controversial among many Italians.

In India, Ambassador Sergio Gor stirred a diplomatic firestorm in August after he told reporters that he considers the state of Jammu and Kashmir to be an “important part of India.”

Taken together, Politico characterized the group as the American president’s “undiplomatic corps” earlier this year.

The Washington Post’s Max Boot added in a column, “Rather than promoting U.S. interests, many of Trump’s mini-me envoys are alienating their host countries by insulting critics and offending local sensibilities. … Trump does enough damage to America’s reputation by himself. He doesn’t need help from his undiplomatic diplomats in alienating the rest of the world.”

This post updates our related earlier coverage.

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