The United States embassy in Malta may be closed due to federal budget cuts, according to multiple news outlets on Tuesday.  

The Malta embassy is among 10 being considered for closure by the Trump administration, with a further 17 consulates also slated for termination.

Other embassies facing the chop include Luxembourg, the Maldives, Eritrea, Grenada, Lesotho, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, the Gambia and South Sudan, according to a White House budget office document seen by the outlets.

The possible closure comes amid reports the Trump administration is seeking to cut some €30 billion from the State Department – equivalent to nearly half its budget.

The news comes just months after the US president nominated former model, philanthropist and advertising executive Somers Farkas for the post of US ambassador to Malta, who was awaiting senate approval before taking up the position.

Formerly in Floriana, in 2011 the US embassy moved to sprawling new premises in Ta’ Qali covering 10 acres of land acquired from the Maltese government five years earlier for €14.6 million. 

The US has had a permanent presence in Malta since 1964. Today, the US embassy employs dozens of people, including Maltese nationals. 

It is, by far, the biggest embassy building in Malta. Most major EU states also have a permanent presence in Malta. 

The arch-rival of the Trump administration, China, meanwhile, has been seeking to expand its presence in Malta in recent years, with the government in 2015 approving the devolution of over 19,000 square metres of land in Pembroke for the building of a Chinese embassy.

Former US ambassador to Malta Constance J Milstein previously described the partnership between the two countries as essential to helping resolve energy security, irregular migration and regional safety and for preventing money laundering and trafficking in drugs and persons.

Five consulates earmarked for closure are in France while two are in Germany, Punchbowl reported. The list also includes missions in Scotland and Italy.

In Canada, US consulates in Montreal and Halifax would be downsized.

'Reckless’ cuts

The proposed cuts to the State Department are reported to be part of a package of reductions ordered by the White House budget office – the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) – in response to State Department spending requests.

Financial support for international peacekeeping would be curtailed, along with funding for educational and cultural exchanges like the Fulbright Program, one of the most prestigious US scholarships.

Trump had nominated former model, philanthropist and advertising executive Somers Farkas for the post of ambassador. Photo: AFP.

The plan comes with President Donald Trump pressing a broader assault on government spending, and a scaling back of America's leading role on the international stage.

But the American Foreign Service Association called the proposed cuts "reckless and dangerous" while former US ambassador to Moscow Michael McFaul decried a "giant gift to the Communist Party of China."

The memo says the State Department will request a $28.4 billion budget in fiscal year 2026, beginning October 1 – $26 billion less than the 2025 figure, according to The New York Times.

Although it has little to say about humanitarian aid, programmes tackling tropical disease, providing vaccines to children in developing nations and promoting maternal and child health would go, the Times reported.

USAID – the sprawling development agency eyed for closure by Trump and Musk – is assumed by the memo's authors to have been fully absorbed into the State Department, said The Washington Post.

Only the Republican-controlled Congress – which needs Democratic votes to pass most laws – has the authority to sign off on the cuts.

But the proposals will likely loom large in lawmakers' negotiations over the 2026 budget.

Government departments were facing a deadline of this week to send the White House their plans for cuts, but the State Department has yet to make any public announcements.

It is not clear if Secretary of State Marco Rubio has endorsed the document, but he would need to sign off on any cuts before they could be considered by Congress.

AFP contacted the State Department for comment but there was no immediate response.