Summons US ambassador

Belgium summons US ambassador again over jibe at health minister

This is not the first time the US ambassador has made controversial personal attacks against Belgian politicians.

By Daria Zakharova

Belgium’s Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot has summoned U.S. Ambassador Bill White for a second time this year, after he posted an Instagram story mocking the country’s Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke.

“Who’s the biggest LOSER in Belgium?” asked U.S. President Donald Trump’s appointee in Brussels on social media, above a seemingly AI-generated picture of Vandenbroucke on a cigar box. In an apparent mockery of the minister’s push to change health warnings used in alcohol advertising, the box reads: “Damages every form of joy in life.”

“It is unacceptable that an ambassador uses such insulting language against a member of government,” Prévot said in a statement to POLITICO. The foreign ministry confirmed the summoning, which was first reported by news agency Belga.

A spokesperson for Belgium’s health ministry declined to comment.

A trade association for Belgian brewers are campaigning this week against a March law proposed by Vandenbroucke, which would change the health warning on alcohol advertisements — from “alcohol abuse causes health damage” to “alcohol causes health damage.”

White was previously summoned in February after he accused Brussels of antisemitism over a probe into three Jewish mohels in Antwerp suspected of performing circumcisions without the required medical qualifications. White called the investigation “ridiculous” and pressured Vandenbroucke to intervene, prompting the Belgian government to accuse him of interfering in the country’s domestic and judicial affairs.

Conner Rousseau, the leader of Vandenbroucke’s party Vooruit, also responded to White’s post on Instagram. The ambassador “knows nothing about healthcare” and “only follows what daddy Trump says,” Rousseau said.

The U.S. embassy in Brussels did not reply to a request for comment.