Trump administration downgrades EU's status in US, without informing Brussels
Source: The Guardian
Downgrade of diplomatic role seen as a snub reflecting a general antipathy to the EU in the Trump administration
The Trump administration has downgraded the diplomatic status of the EU mission in Washington, without informing the mission or Brussels, officials confirmed on Tuesday
The downgrade from nation state to international organisation status reverses an Obama administration decision in 2016 to grant the EU an enhanced diplomatic role in Washington, and is being seen in Brussels as a snub reflecting a general antipathy to the EU in the Trump administration. The president has supported Brexit and has described the EU as a “foe”.
The change, first reported by the German broadcaster, Deutsche Welle, potentially means that the EU mission would have less clout and access to US officials.
“We understand that there was a recent change in the way the diplomatic precedence list is implemented by the United States’ protocol,” Maja Kocijančič, spokeswoman for EU foreign affairs and security policy, said. She added: “We were not notified of any change.”
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/08/trump-administration-downgrades-european-union-status
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“This is a gratuitous and entirely unreasonable swipe at the EU by the Trump administration,” said Nicholas Burns, who was under secretary of state for political affairs in the George W Bush administration.
“It coincides with Trump’s campaign to depict the EU as a competitor, and not a partner, of the US It continues the administration’s delegitimization of international organizations and the supranational organization that is the EU.
“Americans should remember that the EU is our largest trade partner and largest investor in our economy,” Burns added. “Trump’s entire policy toward the EU continues to be misguided and ineffective.”
November 3, 2020 cannot get here fast enough.....................
= new reply since forum marked as read
"The change, first reported by the German broadcaster, Deutsche Welle, potentially means that the EU mission would have less clout and access to US officials."
Less clout and access to U.S. officials in the Trump administration can be counted as a blessing, in my opinion. TrumpCo. is toxic, and the less exposure to them the better. TrumpCo. will be gone in two years. A new administration, almost certainly a Democratic administration, will then repair our relationships with our allies, and any remaining toxic sludge from Trump will be relegated to the shit-bin where it belongs.
Trump was a tragic mistake. We most humbly apologize, and we will do whatever it takes to rid the world of the Trump "taint". 
You have the Democrats word on that. 
The sun will once again shine on the relationships with our European partners.
