Some Estonian politicians have expressed a hope that if this happens, and they have not ruled it out, a repeat of the situation where Estonia was left without a U.S. ambassador for several years will not recur.

U.S. ambassadors are sometimes political appointees – and though most are career diplomats, the polarizing nature of Donald Trump's political career has blurred this distinction somewhat.

While both the impeachment processes brought against Donald Trump, the first over alleged abuse of his powers in pressuring Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy, came to nothing, he was re-elected to a second term as president earlier this month.

Riigikogu Foreign Affairs Committee chair Marko Mihkelson (Reform) said: "It cannot be ruled out that after January 20, once the new president is in office, everyone, including career diplomats, may have to submit their resignation letter, and the State Department in Washington will then decide who might be the next ambassador [to Estonia]."

Mihkelson would not be drawn on whether Ambassador Kent is likely to be recalled, though noted that typically, political appointee ambassadors depart following a change in presidency. While Kent is a "career diplomat," Mihkelson said, "but indeed, we know that he held very clear and sharp positions years ago regarding events tied to Trump's impeachment discussions," he added.

Former Foreign Minister and Isamaa leader Urmas Reinsalu also meanwhile recounted Kent's testimony during Trump's first impeachment process.

"Let's see how things develop following the January change of administration in America," Reinsalu said.

"[Kent] has worked in an efficient and effective manner to promote the interests of the U.S. and our bilateral relations. But of course, this is a decision for the U.S. government," he added.

During the course of the impeachment hearings in December 2019, Ambassador Kent had reportedly said that Trump wanted nothing more than for Ukraine's President Zelenskyy to state the words "investigation, Biden, Clinton," referring to President Biden and his son Hunter, at the center of the Trump allegations, and former Secretary of State and 2020 presidential election Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.

The ambassador, who presented his credentials to President Alar Karis in February last year, had said that the U.S. should avoid urging politically driven investigations against opposition figures in other countries, on the grounds that this undermines the rule of law. In early 2017, when Trump started his first term, Kent was serving as deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv.

Trump had allegedly withheld military aid to Ukraine as a quid pro quo to pressuring that country to investigate Hunter Biden's business interests there, primarily with Burisma, a holding company mainly operating in the energy sphere.

U.S. Congress called Kent to testify in the hearings at the end of 2019.

Kent spent a total of nine hours on the witness stand before the U.S. Congress.

The U.S. State Department will decide his diplomatic future early next year after Donald Trump takes office.

In February of last year, Kent told Eesti Ekspress in a lengthy to-camera interview that the U.S. State Department, the U.S.' foreign ministry in effect, had directed him to decline a congressional subpoena – a formal written order requiring a person, in this case Ambassador Kent, to appear before a court or other legal proceedings.

However in that situation he followed the subpoena. Kent told Eesti Ekspress: "I was put in a rather difficult situation; I did have a written letter from ranking officials at the state department not to appear and testify…but I have always respected the rule of law...I did have, I suppose the choice."

"In our system of government, the legal term from Latin, a subpoena, is the legal obligation to appear, normally before a court, but In this case I was subpoenaed by our congress."

"In my interpretation … I felt I had a legal obligation to respond to that subpoena, even if I had a written letter from the State Department that I should not go. So I was inherently caught between two branches of government (ie. the executive and the legislature – ed.), and I and the other witnesses who testified chose to respond to the subpoena, because we all I think respected congressional oversight and the rule of law."

U.S. Embassy spokesperson: Ambassadors serve at the pleasure of the president, may be recalled at any time

Mike Snyder, Spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in Tallinn, on Monday told ERR News: "Career Foreign Service ambassadors are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate and normally serve the full duration of their posting, even with a change of administration. However, all ambassadors serve at the pleasure of the President and may be recalled at any time."

George P. Kent became U.S. Ambassador to Estonia in February 2023.

U.S. Ambassador to Estonia during Donald Trump's first term as president, James D. Melville, stepped down from the position in June 2018, citing comments the president had made about the EU and NATO as the reason.

William Ellison Grayson was appointed to the post in September 2019 and confirmed in the role nearly a year later, not long before the 2020 election won by Joe Biden. This meant that there was no U.S. ambassador in-country for over four years, until early 2023.

The project to build a new U.S. Embassy in Tallinn is ongoing.

Trump's impeachment proceedings were highly divided on partisan lines, starting with allegations of a quid pro quo phone call pressuring Ukraine to investigate Hunter Biden.

This led to then U.S. chargé d'affaires to Ukraine William B. Taylor's testimony, and a December 2019 House vote. In the event, the Senate acquitted Trump in February 2020. Hunter Biden's business dealings, including a controversial laptop, continued to be under investigation as of 2024.

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