Brandon Judd, the United States ambassador to Chile, again strained relations with the Foreign Ministry with his remarks about the Strait of Magellan. Judd suggested that Chile needed to cooperate with Washington to receive US support in that area.
According to T13, Foreign Minister Francisco Pérez Mackenna responded forcefully. The minister reaffirmed that Chile can defend its sovereignty on its own. Judd later said he had been taken out of context.
The episode adds to other controversies the ambassador has already been involved in during his time in Chile. It drew reactions from Chilean politicians. Senator Karim Bianchi, who represents Magallanes, called for his departure, and Communist Party president Lautaro Carmona supported Chile expelling him.
Judd’s case has parallels in other countries. Representatives of Donald Trump’s second administration have challenged judicial decisions, disparaged officials and intervened in national controversies. Many come from business, the media or politics, rather than the career diplomatic service, and make extensive use of social media to amplify their statements.
In France, real estate businessman Charles Kushner, the father of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, arrived with no diplomatic experience and with a presidential pardon granted in 2020 after serving a federal sentence. He published an open letter accusing France of doing too little to combat antisemitism. He then failed to appear in response to two summonses from the Foreign Ministry under Emmanuel Macron’s government. Paris went so far as to restrict his access to government members, though it later restored it.
In Belgium, Trump fundraiser Bill White accused the country of antisemitism and clashed with Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke. In August, he posted an AI-generated image on Instagram mocking the minister. After being summoned again, he promised to stop making disparaging comments about Belgian leaders.
In Poland, former The Jerusalem Post editor Tom Rose announced on X on February 5 that the United States was cutting off contact with Włodzimierz Czarzasty, speaker of Poland’s lower house. Czarzasty had refused to support an initiative to nominate Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize. In Greece, The Wall Street Journal reported that Kimberly Guilfoyle, a former Fox News host, promoted gas deals linked to the company Aktor. Her lawyer disputed that account.
The region has also been affected. In Peru, Bernie Navarro, who arrived in Lima in January 2026, described journalist César Hildebrandt on X as a "discredited peddler of gossip". Those words drew criticism from the Institute for Press and Society, an organization that defends press freedom. In Argentina, Peter Lamelas said at his confirmation hearing in July 2025 that he would support Javier Milei’s government and seek to curb Chinese influence in the provinces.
For Chile, these cases show that Judd’s remarks are part of a pattern in Trump’s diplomacy. The sources report no new measures by the Foreign Ministry following the ambassador’s clarification.
