Washington delegated Allison Hooker, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Political Affairs, to bid farewell to the monarch. According to political experts, such an obvious disregard for diplomatic protocol may be far from accidental.
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Even before the funeral, diplomacy expert Iver B. Neumann warned that it would be a real scandal if the US did not send at least an ambassador or a higher-ranking official. After the final US decision became known, the expert did not retract his criticism.
“I stand by my words. The decision-making processes of this administration are so chaotic that I would not make any categorical conclusions immediately, but this is a very strange way to treat an ally – to send a representative so low in the hierarchy,” I.B. Neumann told the portal “Dagbladet.”
According to the expert, this may simply be D. Trump’s inability to adhere to diplomatic etiquette, but the possibility of a hidden message is not ruled out. If this were a usual Foreign Ministry protocol, such an outrage simply would not have happened.
A deliberate blow regarding the Nobel Prize?
US political expert Hilmar Mjelde sees even deeper motives. He emphasizes that such high-level ceremonies are usually attended by the highest political leadership representative – at least a minister, while A. Hooker is a completely unknown figure.
“We can interpret this in two ways: either the US simply does not consider this an important event, or – knowing D. Trump’s thinking – this is a deliberate response to Norway and the Nobel Committee,” Mjelde speculates.
According to him, D. Trump’s foreign policy is closely linked to personal matters.
“Norway offended D. Trump by not awarding him the Nobel Peace Prize, and his behavior with other countries directly depends on his personal relationships or grievances,” the expert stated.
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Election rally – more important than the ally’s mourning
Associate Professor Anders G. Romarheim of the Norwegian Defence Studies Institute does not hide that he expected a much more solid US delegation.
“Honestly, I thought Secretary of State Marco Rubio would prioritize this event. This can be seen as clearly cooled relations between Norway and the US during the so-called ‘Trump 2.1’ period,” A.G. Romarheim expressed his regret. He reminded that, for example, during Barack Obama’s term, it would have been unthinkable to send only a deputy secretary to the king’s funeral.
However, the US leadership’s priorities are well illustrated by their schedule: while Norway was burying its king, US Vice President J.D. Vance and Trump himself were spending time at a Republican Party election rally in Dallas. “This event is simply more important to them than King Harald V’s funeral,” A.G. Romarheim concluded.
The response had to wait until the last minute
Uncertainty about who would come from the US lasted almost until the eve of the funeral. Journalists trying to find out the composition of the delegation were sent back and forth between the US Embassy in Oslo, the Pentagon, and the White House for several days. The Norwegian side also had no official confirmations.
Only late Tuesday evening did the White House finally confirm that they sent Allison Hooker.
This diplomatic decision seems even more telling when recalling history: when King Olav V of Norway was buried in 1991, the US paid its respects by sending then-Vice President Dan Quayle himself.
