The Trump administration decided to lower the diplomatic status of the European Union’s representation in the United States without formally notifying Brussels of this step.
We don’t know exactly when they did it, because, by the way, they forgot to notify us about it. I can confirm that this step was not well received in Brussels
– Said an unnamed representative of the European Union.
The downgrade of the mission’s position from a Member State’s diplostatus to the level of an international organization could have occurred at the end of 2018.