European leaders arrived at the White House on Monday not to be met by President Donald Trump, but by the former Fox News host Monica Crowley—a snub the Trump administration is now proudly promoting.
The official White House account compiled a montage of top U.S. allies arriving at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave to be met by an unfamiliar face, with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky being the lone exception.
The dramatic clip showed the arrivals of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. The seven leaders were greeted by Crowley, 56, who is the chief of protocol at the White House.
The White House wrote on Instagram, “Peace and American leadership are BACK under President Trump.”
Crowley commented under the video herself, writing, “It is an honor and a privilege to serve our greatest President and the American people as Chief of Protocol of the United States, and to welcome world leaders to the White House.”
Trump, 79, rolled out the red carpet for Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday in Alaska. He exited Air Force One first, while Putin waited on his presidential jet, and then struggled to walk in a straight line until he reached their meeting point. There, the president smiled and clapped as the longtime U.S. adversary approached him. He then surprised Putin with a U.S. Air Force flyover and a ride in his presidential limo.
The White House has not explained why Trump opted not to greet the majority of the Europeans upon their arrival on Monday—something critics noted the president would demand from them if he ever hastily crossed the Atlantic Ocean for a meeting.
Trump did trek to the White House’s north entrance to greet Zelensky. The men shared a warm handshake and smiled as they met for the first time since February, when Trump and Vice President JD Vance ambushed him in the Oval Office and literally chased him out of the White House over his response.
Zelensky, 47, appeared overly friendly with Trump on Monday. He is attempting to secure all-important guarantees from Trump that the U.S. will ensure his country’s safety if he strikes a deal with Putin to end more than three years of fighting.
Russia—and the Soviet Union before it—has been among America’s top adversaries since the mid-20th century. However, Trump has long been sympathetic to Putin, and, after meeting with him in Alaska, aligned his position to be more in line with that of Russia.
Trump has notably said he no longer wishes for a ceasefire, as Zelensky says is necessary. He instead wants to see an immediate peace deal made, even if it requires Ukraine to cede large swaths of its land to Russia.
It is not all doom and gloom for Ukraine, however. The New York Times reported Monday that Trump is now considering security guarantees for Ukraine. That is a change from his previous position earlier this term, when he demanded that Europe alone should be responsible for protecting its mutual ally.
