(Article updated on 16 April 2025, 19:35 with comments from the US embassy in Luxembourg.)

“I discovered an incredible reservoir of goodwill there that goes back 80 years to when the United States stepped in and saved the country,”  told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Wednesday. “To me, it makes no sense to squander that goodwill.” For Barrett, who was US ambassador to Luxembourg from 2022 until mid-January this year, the move would invite China to exert greater influence in the heart of Europe and damage the close ties between the US and Luxembourg.

Leaked documents seen by media outlets CNN and Politico suggest the closure of 17 consulates and 10 embassies, including embassies in Malta, Luxembourg, Lesotho, the Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic and South Sudan. The list also includes five consulates in France, two in Germany, two in Bosnia and Herzegovina, one in the United Kingdom, one in South Africa and one in South Korea. The document proposes that the functions of the closed embassies be covered by branches in neighbouring countries.

State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce declined to comment on the internal document or the State Department’s plans for drastic cuts. “I suggest you check with the White House and the president of the United States as they continue to develop their budget plan and submit it to Congress,” Bruce said when asked by US reporters. “The figures we see are often premature or wrong, based on leaked documents from an unknown source.” A strategy that, for the time being, has not reached the ears of any Luxembourg official. 

“No embassy or consulate closures have been announced, including at US embassy Luxembourg, and our operations continue as normal,” said US embassy Luxembourg spokesperson, Meghan Dean, in response to questions from Paperjam. “As State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce noted during the 15 April department press briefing, ‘I can tell you that whatever you’ve seen in public was not released from this entity, was not released from this department. It was not released by the secretary.’”

Dean added, “The State Department continues to assess our global programmes and posture to ensure we are best positioned to address modern challenges on behalf of the American people. We will continue to engage diplomatically with our allies and partners, including Luxembourg, to advance US national interests and shared policy priorities.”

Stacey Woolf Feinberg still in the running

US president Donald Trump in mid-January nominated Stacey Woolf Feinberg to succeed Barrett. On 10 April, the road to her nomination continued as the Senate validated her credentials. "Her expansive career highlights her versatility across industries. With her demonstrated leadership and business acumen, she is a highly qualified candidate to serve as Ambassador to Luxembourg,” it concluded, without prejudging Feinberg’s final appointment. Feinberg is the founder and managing director of 33 Capital LLC, where she focusses on financing and supporting women entrepreneurs. She is a regular jury member for venture capital competitions, speaks on various industry panels and leads the Women Founders Network’s Junior VC programme.

“President Trump formally nominated Stacey Woolf Feinberg on 24 March 2025, to be the next US ambassador to Luxembourg and transmitted her nomination to the Senate that day,” US embassy Luxembourg spokesperson Meghan Dean told Paperjam. “After the White House officially submits a nomination to the Senate, a nominee moves through the legislative process to become confirmed as an ambassador.  This process includes a hearing by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a vote by the Senate. After Senate confirmation, the president officially appoints a candidate to their position. Ms Feinberg is currently awaiting a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing date.”

A look back

Over the years, the embassy in Luxembourg has hosted a number of notable American diplomats. Former ambassadors include Perle Mesta, in post from 1949 to 1953 and the famous “most successful hostess” whose monthly receptions even inspired the musical “Call Me Madam.” Patricia Roberts Harris also made history in 1965 when she became the first African-American woman to be appointed US ambassador--and it was in Luxembourg that US president Lyndon B. Johnson appointed her for this historic first.

More recently, the Luxembourg embassy saw James Hormel take up the post in 1999, the first openly gay ambassador to the United States, appointed by president Bill Clinton. Luxembourg was also privileged to have one of its own natives, John E. Dolibois, as US ambassador (from 1981 to 1985)--the only case to date of a native Luxembourger in this position. The quality of his service was such that in 2003 the US Congress named the embassy residence after him, underlining the attachment to the bilateral relationship. These emblematic figures bear witness to the changing role of the embassy, from a simple legation to a mission entrusted to influential figures, often embodying “firsts” for American diplomacy.

The closure of the embassy would mark an unprecedented break in this centuries-old diplomatic continuity. From a historical and symbolic point of view, it would be a highly significant gesture: “A profound upheaval in relations between Luxembourg and the United States,” according to the chairman of Chamber of Deputies’ foreign affairs committee, Gusty Graas, interviewed by the media outlet Virgule. After more than a century of uninterrupted diplomatic presence (apart from the interlude of the Second World War), putting the American mission on hold would be seen as a step backwards. The links forged since 1903--consolidated in the liberation of the country in 1944 and in the Atlantic Alliance--would be weakened.

The absence of an ambassador on the spot would mean that official exchanges would have to transit through an American representation abroad (probably the embassy in Brussels, Belgium), at the risk of diluting the attention paid to specifically Luxembourg issues. Such a decision would be all the more of a disappointment given that, until now, bilateral relations have been described as excellent. It could also undermine the mutual trust and understanding patiently built up over generations.

Financial centre and space focus

Historically, the US embassy in Luxembourg has played an essential role in facilitating economic exchanges between the two countries. Despite the small size of the Luxembourg market, the United States is one of the grand duchy’s main trading partners. Bilateral trade in goods includes machinery, pharmaceuticals and financial services.

For its part, Luxembourg serves as a strategic platform for many American firms in Europe, particularly in finance and technology, thanks to an attractive regulatory environment and a highly skilled workforce. The embassy, via its commercial section and diplomats, has actively supported this dynamic by helping to connect American investors and local decision-makers, informing companies of opportunities and facilitating administrative procedures.

For example, it has encouraged the development of partnerships in the nascent space sector: Luxembourg has adopted an innovative legal framework on the exploitation of space resources aligned with the US approach, which has attracted many US space companies to open offices in the grand duchy. Similarly, the presence of an embassy in the grand duchy gives American companies a direct point of contact for resolving any commercial obstacles and promoting a favourable business climate.

Cross-border investment is particularly important and has been stimulated by this diplomatic cooperation. Many US multinationals have chosen to locate their European headquarters or subsidiaries in Luxembourg (in sectors ranging from digital media to online commerce and financial services), and the country hosts a large number of investment funds managed by US institutions, strengthening the financial ties between the two economies.

Inversely, Luxembourg companies are investing or operating in the United States, supported by a fluid dialogue between the authorities--to which the embassy contributes by providing analyses and contacts. Thanks to these relations, direct investment flows between the two countries have averaged more than €600bn a year over the last decade, a sign of a mutually beneficial economic partnership.

A total of more than 70,000 jobs are thought to be linked to transatlantic trade between Luxembourg and the United States, a remarkable figure that includes jobs created in the grand duchy by American companies and vice versa. Key sectors illustrate this interdependence: the Luxembourg financial centre is home to leading American banks and asset managers, there is close collaboration in air and space transport and high-tech exchanges are multiplying.

The embassy has also initiated or supported structuring programmes to strengthen long-term economic synergies. For example, in partnership with the University of Luxembourg and the private sector, it co-founded a scholarship programme--the US-Luxembourg Leadership Exchange Award--enabling Luxembourg students to study in the United States every year. Initially launched in 2007 with the support of the embassy and American companies based in the grand duchy, this scholarship was recently extended by a memorandum of understanding signed in 2023, to cover all levels of study and to be fully funded by local American firms.

A strategic role for Nato

The United States and Luxembourg have long enjoyed close strategic cooperation, largely through their alliance in Nato. A founding member of the Atlantic Alliance in 1949, Luxembourg has always been a staunch ally of Washington on defence and security issues. The US embassy in Luxembourg serves as an indispensable conduit for coordinating these joint strategic efforts. Historically, the Luxembourg authorities have adopted a very pro-Western line, aligning themselves with American positions on most of the major issues of the Cold War and the post-Cold War era. This closeness can be explained by gratitude for the liberating role played by the United States during the two world wars and by a convergence of democratic values. In 1984, an article in the New York Times even described Luxembourg as “probably the most openly pro-American country in Europe,” reputed to be “Washington’s best friend” on the continent.

In concrete terms, this spirit was reflected in Luxembourg’s contributions to Nato: unable to deploy an imposing army, the Luxembourgers provided other means. For example, all Nato’s Awacs aircraft (large Boeing E-3 air surveillance aircraft) are registered in Luxembourg and fly the grand duchy’s flag, in recognition of the country’s financial participation in this crucial programme over the past 40 years. Since the 1960s, Findel airport has served as a logistics base for Allied exercises, and Luxembourg has hosted some of Nato’s support infrastructure on its soil, capitalising on its stable geographical and political position at the heart of Europe.

In particular, the US embassy houses an Office of Defense Cooperation (ODC) whose mission is to work hand in hand with Luxembourg’s defence ministry. In this capacity, ODC diplomats and American defence attachés facilitate the development of joint projects, be they equipment purchases, joint exercises or exchanges of expertise. Recently, the focus has been on innovation and increasing the capacity of Luxembourg’s forces.

Luxembourg, which is gradually increasing its defence budget to reach the target of 2% of GDP set by Nato, is investing in niche technologies (such as space, cyber and communications satellites). The embassy has supported this approach by putting American defence companies in touch with the Luxembourg ecosystem. In 2024, the ODC thus organised visits with the Luxembourg defence directorate to innovative local companies (specialising in lightweight materials, night imaging, advanced composites, etc.) in order to explore industrial collaborations and transfers of knowhow.

Such initiatives, encouraged by the ambassador, aim to strengthen the compatibility of the two countries’ forces and technologies, while helping Luxembourg to develop a defence industrial base in line with Nato standards. The embassy is also involved in planning Luxembourg’s contributions to allied missions: for example, when Luxembourg decided to take part in the enhanced forward presence in Eastern Europe, sending small contingents to Lithuania and then Romania in 2022-2023, it was in consultation with US advisors that these deployments were calibrated.

$100m investment

Another notable area of strategic cooperation is logistics and military infrastructure. In this area, the relationship is exemplary: southern Luxembourg has for decades been home to one of the largest US Air Force reserve depots in Europe, managed by Usafe’s War Reserve Materiel (WRM). This storage complex, located in Sanem, is used to pre-position equipment and supplies that can be deployed within 24 hours to any theatre of operations.

The embassy facilitated agreements between the Pentagon and the Luxembourg government for the expansion of these strategic facilities. In October 2023, a major 18,000m2 warehouse expansion project was launched in the presence of ambassador Barrett and Luxembourg defence minister François Bausch (déi Gréng). This $100m investment, financed entirely by the United States, “demonstrates the American commitment to European defence and the Alliance,” the ambassador stressed at the ceremony, adding that it was part of the joint response to a rapidly changing security context.

For Luxembourg, which asked for American help at the height of the covid-19 pandemic (in 2020, US warehouses supplied generators and refrigerators to provide emergency equipment for Luxembourg field hospitals), this project strengthens Nato’s logistical resilience whilst enhancing the value of its territory. The embassy was a key player in bringing this “win-win” partnership to fruition: it coordinated the diplomatic aspects, provided the link between the US military engineers and the local authorities for building permits, and ensured that the importance of this infrastructure was communicated to the Luxembourg public.

At a geopolitical level, the American diplomatic mission is closely involved with Luxembourg in contemporary transatlantic issues. Whether it be the fight against terrorism, policy towards Russia or China, or space strategy, the embassy serves as a permanent consultation platform. During Luxembourg’s term on the UN Security Council in 2013-2014, US and Luxembourg diplomats worked closely together, particularly on humanitarian issues in Syria--demonstrating a mutual trust forged by years of strategic dialogue.

More recently, following the start of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine in 2022, Luxembourg unambiguously aligned itself with the Western position by providing substantial military and humanitarian aid to Kyiv (almost 17% of its defence budget is devoted to Ukraine). The US embassy has played a supporting role by relaying Washington’s expectations, coordinating non-lethal assistance via Nato (such as Luxembourg’s contribution to the assistance fund for Ukraine), and ensuring that Luxembourg participates in initiatives to strengthen the security of vulnerable partners (such as Moldova or Georgia).

This almost daily consultation, often behind the scenes, ensures that Luxembourg--small in size but unambiguously committed to the United States--can amplify its voice in international forums in step with its allies. The embassy acts here as an influence multiplier: it informs Washington of Luxembourg’s positions and vice versa, so that the grand duchy is often able to anticipate and support American initiatives in multilateral bodies.

This article was originally published in .