He gave that instruction in April, 2018.  I want to know who the staff member was who did not follow his instruction. It's not difficult to remove an ambassador. The Obama administration issued a December 2008 notice to Bush-appointed ambassadors to submit their resignations, effective when President Barack Obama took office in 2009, according to the Washington Post. A State Department official told Agence France Presse at the time that demanding all previously appointed ambassadors resign was routine.