In a significant departure from decades of established protocol, foreign governments are increasingly navigating Washington by engaging directly with a handful of personal envoys and confidants of President Donald Trump, rather than through traditional diplomatic and policy institutions.
This shift towards a highly personalized and transactional form of statecraft is defining the foreign policy approach during Trump's second term, which began in 2025.
The New Washington Handbag: A Transactional Approach
The change is palpable on Capitol Hill. Republican Congressman Brian Mast, whose Florida district neighbors Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate and who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, describes a constant stream of foreign delegations to his Washington office.
In just one day, he met with representatives from Nigeria, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Taiwan, and two other nations he could not immediately recall. He notes that every visitor arrives prepared with a specific offer for the United States.
"Every last one of them comes in here with, 'We have the greatest quality of this mineral,' or 'The greatest capability to refine this mineral,'" Mast said in late December 2025. He likened the trend to everyone carrying the same fashionable "handbag"—a metaphor for the transactional offers now central to diplomatic engagements.
Policy by Personality Replaces Institutions
This transactional theme is matched by another key characteristic: the rise of the personal envoy. A former U.S. defence official describes the current model as "policy by personality," which has effectively sidelined the formal processes and institutions that long underpinned American foreign policy.
Instead of relying primarily on the State Department, President Trump has empowered a small circle of trusted associates. Steve Witkoff, a longtime friend and real estate business partner, serves as a special envoy for peace negotiations, shuttling between global capitals like Moscow, Riyadh, and Jerusalem.
Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and a venture capitalist, operates without an official government title but plays a leading role in U.S. mediation efforts in the Middle East and Ukraine, all while managing his business dealings with Gulf monarchies.
Other key figures include Tom Barrack, a longtime confidant and campaign donor who acts as ambassador to Turkey and a broker for peace in Syria and Lebanon. Massad Boulos, the Lebanese-American father-in-law to Trump's daughter Tiffany, leverages his business empire in West Africa in his role as the administration's Africa envoy.
A Shockingly Small Circle
This consolidation of influence has dramatically narrowed the channels for international dialogue. A former U.S. official who served in multiple administrations, including Trump's, lamented the loss of traditional oversight and the "hierarchy of policy engagements."
"The circle of people is just so shockingly small," the former official stated, highlighting the absence of subject matter experts and seasoned diplomatic experience.
Mouaz Moustafa, executive director of the Syrian Emergency Task Force, has observed this dynamic firsthand while lobbying for Syria's new government. He succinctly captured the new power structure: "If you're an old real estate buddy, like Steve Witkoff or Tom Barrack, those are principals. Ivanka and Jared, those are principals."
The result is a foreign policy apparatus that operates through intimate back channels, placing personal relationships and deal-making at the forefront of America's engagement with the world.
