He arrived late and left early. However, for the few short hours Donald Trump actually attended and participated in the G7 summit in Quebec, it’s probably safe to say no one was sad to see him go.
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The annual G7 summit brings together the US, Canada, the UK, France, Italy, Japan, and Germany for a meeting of global minds. Previously, the event was dubbed the G8 summit, however, Russia was ejected from the group in 2014 for its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.
Economics frequently atop the agenda, but with so many world leaders together in one room the meetings almost always branch off into major global issues.
And that’s when — thanks to “The Donald” — the G7 summit took a turn for the worse.
For anyone wanting to know what other world leaders think of Donald Trump, one doesn’t have to look any further than the photo released Saturday by the office of German Chancellor Angela Merkel from the Group of Seven’s annual meeting.
Before even leaving the US, Trump picked a fight with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and French President Emmanuel Macron, both of whom are long-time US allies. Upon his arrival, he accused those allies in attendance of treating the US as if it were a “piggy bank” and treating them as if they were all enemies. Next, he reignited talks of his suspicious ties to the Kremlin by whining that Russia should be allowed back into the group (without any concessions) and that its leader, Vladimir Putin should have been by his side during the group’s discussions. Then he alone decided the meeting was over and left.
No wonder Chancellor Merkel was able to capture the photo of a tense and confrontational “Us versus Him” moment with Trump.
Although world leaders were cordial and dignified with Trump when he was around, their good manners seemed to lull “The Donald” into an unfortunate state of delusion.
When asked how he thought the summit went, Trump told members of the press it was “tremendously, tremendously successful,” sticking with his own internal impression that any and everything he is ever involved in is always an enormous success.
When asked to explain reports of frustrations flying between him and other world leaders, Trump turned defensive and angry.
“I would say the level of [our] relationship is a 10. We have a great relationship. Angela (Merkel) and Emmanuel (Macron), Justin (Trudeau). I would say the relationship is a 10,” Trump barked.
Not surprisingly, at least one senior European diplomat was quick to reject Trump’s 10-out-of-10 assessment.
“He must mean there are 10 things on which we totally disagree. Or like the title of the movie, ’10 Things I Hate About You,'” the diplomat told a CNN reporter.
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Trump’s penchant for dealing with global leaders as if he is negotiating a real estate deal appears to have worked against him and, unbeknownst to him, placed him on an island all by himself.
“When you enter into the discussion wanting to win, that’s just a narcissistic position that is wrong,” President Macron said of Trump. “There’s no winner. There’s only losers if you adopt that strategy.”
Regarding Trump’s suggestion that Russia be readmitted into the group and it be renamed the G8, Prime Minister Trudeau assured the media that the idea is “not something we are even remotely looking at.” However, by the time Trump got word of Trudeau’s statement, he threatened Canada with a trade war on steel and aluminum tariffs — prompting Trudeau to declare “we will not be pushed around.”
Once Trump seemingly took his marbles and left the meeting, world leaders and the media had already begun to refer to the event as the “G6+1 summit.”
“The American President may not mind being isolated, but neither do we mind signing a 6 country agreement if need be. Because these 6 countries represent values, they represent an economic market which has the weight of history behind it and which is now a true international force,” Macron tweeted.
Is Donald Trump playing a high-stakes game of chicken that will pay off in the end for America? Or is his complete ineptitude and inexperience on the world stage about to create a global catastrophe that will isolate the US and damage long-standing relationships with vital allies for years to come?
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Trump turns G7 Summit into a disaster.
“The American President may not mind being isolated, but neither do we mind signing a 6 country agreement if need be. Because these 6 countries represent values, they represent an economic market which has the weight of history behind it and which is now a true international force,” Macron tweeted. […] Well we shall see. The truth is, since the ending of WW II our allies have pretty much allowed the U.S. to dictate the terms of everything while the leaders of those nations have been content to blindly followed. The only exception being Israel – a nation that dictates their wishes to Us on foreign policy and U.S. leaders willingly obey. Pres. Obama was the only president in recent American history to not bow down to Israel. But I digress. Over the weekend I only checked in on the news a little so as to not to be completely… Read more »