A notable protocol moment unfolded at the G7 summit on Monday evening, when U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio unexpectedly entered the room where the leaders were meeting and walked from leader to leader to greet them. He reached President Donald Trump first, while British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, seated behind Trump, appeared to wait for a handshake that never came.
When the greeting did not happen, Starmer got up and approached Rubio himself. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, seated behind Starmer, chose not to follow suit and returned to his own business. The episode was described as a departure from protocol, because a prime minister is ranked above a foreign minister and is not supposed to approach him after being passed over.
It was not immediately clear why Rubio entered the G7 meeting room without prior coordination. French President Emmanuel Macron was said to have looked surprised when the American official came in unannounced. The summit included the leaders of the seven major industrialized countries, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is not a member of the group, was also present in the smaller session and received a handshake from Rubio.