Donald Trump rejects G7 communique as he brands Justin Trudeau 'weak'
- by Kelli Lowe
- in Global Media
- — Jun 10, 2018
The Prime Minister said the United Kingdom still wanted to discuss a post-Brexit trade deal with the U.S. and said Mr Trump was still looking forward to July's visit to Britain.
Trump left the G7 summit in Canada early, then wrote on Twitter that Trudeau's remarks, including that his country would not be pushed around, "were very dishonest and weak".
That's pretty much the only way to restore America's friendships with traditional allies like Canada, Mexico, and the European Union, which have been blindsided by President Donald Trump's aggressive trade restrictions, including steep tariffs on steel and aluminum. "We're pretty close on the sunset division", he said.
Before Trump's late arrival at the breakfast event, Trudeau told the room that he wanted to see the creation of a mechanism to look at gender equality across all areas of discussion and study when it comes to the G7. "We are focused on everything we accomplished here at the #G7 summit", spokesman Cameron Ahmad said. He reiterated his longstanding view that the USA has been taken advantage of in global trade, adding, "We're like the piggy bank that everybody's robbing and that ends". Instead, he emphasized the need for other countries to reduce their barriers against the United States, such as Canadian duties on USA dairy. The noise of Mr Trump's helicopter landing was so loud they had to stop talking for a while, in a scene one official compared to the opening from the USA television series M.A.S.H.
Speaking at a news conference, he described as "insulting" Mr Trump's decision to invoke national security concerns to justify steel and aluminium tariffs.
Officials from European delegations quickly leaked copies of the joint statement to AFP, and it was published publicly online before Trump tweeted.
The late arrival at a session, where the G7 leaders were discussing gender equality and women's empowerment sparked concerns that the U.S. president might not participate at all in Saturday's meetings. "So long as the United States government persists on its present course where the instinct is to undo anything that is already there", said Sebastian Mallaby, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, in a phone call with reporters ahead of the weekend summit.
Trump says they will either have a better agreement on NAFTA or two deals involving separate trade deals with both Canada and Mexico.
Justin Trudeau seemed to stifle a smile as he gave a very special present to Donald Trump - a framed picture of the first hotel that his grandfather, Friedrich Trump, opened in Canada.
"The United States has been taken advantage of for decades and decades", Trump said.
"I would say that the level of relationships is a 10 - we have a great relationship". The country was expelled after its annexation of Crimea in 2014.
Trump's presidency has been clouded by a federal investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, and possible collusion by his campaign.
The office of German Chancellor Angela Merkel also said it stood by the communique.
