What went wrong between Donald Trump and Justin Trudeau at G7?
Summit left in disarray as US president withdraws support for joint communique and attacks ‘weak’ Canadian PM
![Donald Trump and Justin Trudeau at last week's G7 summit in Canada](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/YpND3XCsF8uZJgCZdQhoan-415-80.jpg)
French President Emmanuel Macron has been the first G7 leader to hit back at Donald Trump, after the US president dramatically withdrew his support for a joint communiqué agreed at the group’s recent summit in Canada and attacked its host.
What happened?
In a series of early morning tweets, Trump described Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as “very dishonest and weak” and accused him of making “false statements”. He also said he would not be endorsing the communique which agreed the need for “free, fair, and mutually beneficial trade”, stressed the importance of fighting protectionism and demanded Moscow cease its destabilising behaviour.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
![https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516-320-80.jpg)
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
It follows an extraordinary press conference on Saturday in which Trump threatened to cut off trade with countries that treated the US unfairly, adding “We’re like the piggy bank that everybody is robbing”.
Despite this it was hoped the communique, which had been initially signed off by the US, would represent a general show of unity among the world’s biggest economies.
Does the disagrement matter?
The US president's Twitter outburst, sent as he flew to an historic meeting with North Korea's ruler Kim Jong Un in Singapore, unravelled days of work by the world's top nations in attempting to resolve a growing global trade dispute.
Prior to the meeting, a White House official has told the Washington Post that Trump was contemplating not signing the statement but “in the end what Trump did seemed significantly pettier” says Vox, claiming he decided to take his support back because Trudeau pledged to follow through on earlier promises to retaliate against US tariffs at a press conference after he left.
“Even for a presidency as capricious as Trump’s, his action marked a new blurring of lines between his personal feelings towards other leaders, and US government policy” says The Observer.
The paper adds “it was also the latest example of Trump’s use of much harsher language towards fellow democratically-elected leaders of allied countries than to strongmen leaders of enemy and adversary nations”.
How did other leaders react?
A picture taken by Jesco Denzel, a German government photographer, and released by Steffen Seibert, spokesman for the chancellor, Angela Merkel apparently showed world leaders confronting Trump at the G7 summit.
To many observers the photograph offered “a rare glimpse of diplomatic activity not wreathed in smiles and handshakes,” The Guardian says.
As G7 leaders were scrambling to respond to the latest US U-turn, Emmanuel Macron’s office said in a statement: “International co-operation cannot be dictated by fits of anger and throwaway remarks”.
The response “suggests an end to what observers had noted was a budding “bromance” between the French president and Mr Trump” says Sky News.
The French president has used up a significant amount of political capital wooing the billionaire businessman with almost nothing to show for it. Despite a concerted lobbying effort, Trump has withdrawn from the Paris climate agreement, the Iran nuclear deal and imposed huge tariffs on European imports.
Ultimately though, Trump’s harshly worded tweets, personally insulting one of the US’s closest allies and overturning an apparent commitment that had been made just hours earlier, “made his exit from the summit even more acrimonious than most analysts expected” says Vox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
The manosphere: the shady online network of masculinists
The Explainer A new police report said a rise in radicalised young men is contributing to an increase in violence against women and girls
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
How can we fix tourism?
Today's Big Question Local protests over negative impact of ever-rising visitor numbers could change how we travel forever
By The Week UK Published
-
Simone Biles: Rising – an 'elegantly paced and vulnerable' portrait of the gymnast
The Week Recommends Netflix's four-part documentary is more than a 'riveting comeback story'
By Irenie Forshaw, The Week UK Published
-
The GOP is Donald Trump Jr.'s party now
In The Spotlight The former president's gun-loving, live-streaming adult son has emerged as more than just his father's namesake — he's become a Republican powerhouse of his own
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
For God and country: is religion in politics making a comeback?
Talking Point There are many MPs of faith in the new Labour government despite it being the most openly secular House of Commons in history
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
The attack on Donald Trump
Opinion We've seen this kind of shooter before
By Susan Caskie Published
-
74 things Donald Trump has said about women
Feature The former president has a long history of controversial remarks about the opposite sex
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
DHS opens review of Trump assassination attempt
Speed Read An independent panel will investigate the Secret Service's handling of the shooting
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Can Kamala Harris beat Trump?
Today's Big Question Some senior Democrats are unsure the vice-president can win in November even as party closes ranks behind her
By The Week UK Published
-
Iran: does Masoud Pezeshkian's election mark a turning point?
Talking Point New president is seen as a progressive but much will depend on how the US reacts
By The Week UK Published
-
'Although we can't eliminate political violence, we can minimize it'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, The Week US Published