15. Declining an invitation for a state dinner to the White House is an immensely rare affront, breaching decades of carefully and precisely delineated protocol
Receiving an invitation to attend a state dinner in the United States is an extremely rare privilege, even for a head of state, and, consequently, declining said invitation is broadly perceived as an enormous repudiation of both the incumbent President and of the U.S. itself. Formal diplomatic protocol provides individuals invited to attend state dinners just four reasons to politely decline the solicitations of the American President: a death in the immediate family, a serious illness preventing attendance, a family wedding, or an “unavoidable” requirement for their absence from Washington D.C. Failure to provide a suitable excuse will be treated as a personal attack on the First Family or guest dignitary and future invites will be discontinued.
Due to the diplomatic repercussions of publicly rejecting an invitation, it is unknown exactly how many world leaders have declined an offer of a state visit. One known instance, occurring in 1986, involved King Hassan II of Morocco, who canceled a planned visit to Washington D.C. at the eleventh hour. Citing personal fatigue, the incident was widely interpreted as an expression of annoyance at America’s criticism of Moroccan relations with Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.