The fact that the European leaders, including the Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, arrived at the White House for the summit with Donald Trump and Volodymy Zlensky, did not have been welcomed by the American president but by the Protocol manager, Monica Crowley, for years, for years Fox News fabric.
Trump instead received the Ukrainian president personally, but often in the past he has also welcomed more leaders on their arrival. In official visits there are different levels of reception, regulated by the diplomatic protocol. When it comes to state or official visits of a single head of government or head of state, the reception takes place directly by the president.
When, on the other hand, there are multilateral meetings – more leader together, as in the case of European delegations – may happen that the heads of state and government are welcomed by the “Chief of Protocol”, and then meet the president in the oval study. The ‘Chief of Protocol’ is considered, in the diplomacy of the White House, a figure of the highest level of the State Department, in charge of managing arrivals and ceremonial. It is not always a sign of rude but institutional practice to distinguish between formal welcome and political moment of the meeting.