A United States' (U.S.) internal watchdog found its ambassador to Singapore to have wasted money and had poor ties with some Singapore ministries, hindering the progress of U.S.' diplomatic goals. He also had difficult working relationships with his embassy staff.

The U.S. State Department's Office of Inspector General (OIG) detailed Ambassador Jonathan Kaplan's misbehaviour in a report dated February 2024 and released online on Mar. 1.

Embassy staff felt belittled and intimidated by Kaplan, feared him and his threats of reprisal

The OIG conducted surveys and interviews with embassy staff and discussed with embassy leadership, and found that Kaplan "did not model some Department of State leadership and management principles", nor was he always cognizant of the morale and attitude of embassy staff.

Staff reported that it was hard to work with Kaplan, and some embassy sections were reticent or fearful of engaging with him unless "absolutely necessary".

"Numerous staff described a fear, and even direct threats, of reprisal from the Ambassador.

They described his mannerisms with personnel as belittling and intimidating and said that he frequently spoke disparagingly about U.S. government employees and the Department."

Embassy staff felt belittled and intimidated by Kaplan, feared him and his threats of reprisal

OIG found that Kaplan "failed to establish constructive working relationships with all embassy elements".

This was due in part to Kaplan's "tense" relationship with the previous Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM), Rafik Mansour, and his apparent lack of interest in their work, such as not reading briefing materials they prepared.

Kaplan also instructed his staff to pursue projects for his personal interests rather than broader foreign policy interests, such as obtaining VIP treatment for him at popular cultural events.

Wasted money, made unauthorised spending

The OIG found that Kaplan "did not plan strategically with regards to specific initiatives by developing and promoting attainable, shared goals with embassy sections".

This included an instance in January 2023, when he spent S$37,400 (US$27,812) organising a reception on the USS Makin Island — an amphibious assault ship — that featured a concert by his friend, an American professional pianist, and involved putting a piano on the deck of the ship.

Embassy staff told OIG they had limited time to plan the event and faced challenges with logistics and budget.

OIG said the reception's cost caused the embassy to reduce funding for other public diplomacy programs that might have more effectively advanced U.S. interests in Singapore.

OIG found that Kaplan was also dismissive of "regulations and requirements and had a difficult time understanding the limits of working within the government".

He was unaware of acquisition guidance and processes and thus, did not follow them when committing to two consulting services, resulting in two unauthorised spendings totalling S$13,300 (US$9,900)

He also did not follow the travel and reimbursement policies and requirements while performing his approved official travel, leading to approximately S$64,500 (US$48,000) in outstanding travel expenses that were either not accounted for or improperly accounted for.

The travel expenses date back to December 2021, when Kaplan first took on the role.

"Developed poor relationships"

OIG also found that Kaplan "developed poor relationships" with some Singapore government ministries which, in some cases, "hurt progress" on diplomatic goals and objectives.

This included him often being unprepared on issues and making statements that were counterproductive to a section’s work.

Embassy staff noted that Kaplan should conduct more meetings at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but Kaplan told OIG that the meetings were "unproductive with only an exchange of talking points and no real discussions".

OIG also found that Kaplan had limited contacts with Singapore’s traditional media.

From the time he arrived in Singapore until the conclusion of their inspection in September 2023, Kaplan had held two press events, one of which was off-the-record.

Kaplan told OIG there was no need for him to deal with Singapore’s traditional media and he preferred to use social media.

On the other hand, embassy staff told OIG that Kaplan appeared indifferent to the embassy’s social media priorities and focused instead on the number of followers on his official Instagram account, which as of March 2023, had 825 followers.

Kaplan has 4,798 followers at the time of writing.

Kaplan said he takes "full responsibility" for what reports mentioned

Kaplan said in a statement that he takes "full responsibility for quickly addressing the concerns and recommendations found in the report", Bloomberg reported on Mar. 2.

A White House national security spokesman John Kirby said U.S. President Joe Biden is "comfortable that the State Department is taking this seriously" and wants "his representatives overseas and at home to act and to lead and to manage people with dignity and respect".

Who is Jonathan Kaplan?

Kaplan, an entrepreneur, was the founder of Pure Digital Technologies, where he invented the Flip Video pocket camera. He was also the founding chief executive officer of The Melt, a chain of fast-casual restaurants.

As noted by OIG, Kaplan is a "first-time, non-career chief of mission". He had no government experience and was nominated by Biden in July 2021.

In the 10 years before his appointment, Kaplan had donated more than S$134,400 (US$100,000) to Democratic campaigns.

U.S. Presidents have a longtime practice of distributing ambassador jobs to campaign donors and political allies who have no diplomatic experience.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump nominated K.T. McFarland, for the role in 2017. McFarland, who described herself as a "moderate Republican" withdrew from consideration in February 2018.

After the U.S. Senate declined to take up Trump's second nomination, the job of U.S. ambassador to Singapore sat vacant for five years until Kaplan took the role.

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