Trump says his frenetic, truth-adjacent flip-flopping is 'the way I negotiate' and 'it has done very well for me'

For most of President Trump's three days at the Group of Seven summit in Biarritz, France, "only the coastal winds rivaled the breakneck pace of vague and vacillating statements on pressing issues including North Korea, Iran, the environment, and trade," Politico reports. "The president's meandering statements and conflicting remarks left aides and allies alike guessing at his intended course of action — and his critics reviving questions about his fitness for office." They also left global financial markets reeling.

"Trump spent the weekend in France insisting that he was not having a debate with his fellow world leaders, but at times it seemed like he was having a debate with himself," Peter Baker writes at The New York Times. "Day by day, even hour by hour, his approach to the trade war with China, the most consequential economic conflict on the planet, veered back and forth, leaving much of the world with geopolitical whiplash." But Trump also made clear that "he likes leaving negotiating partners, adversaries, observers, and even allies off-balance," he adds.

At an hour-plus press conference at the end of the G-7 summit, a reporter asked Trump if his constantly changing statements on China and trade aren't counterproductive. "Sorry, it's the way I negotiate," he replied. "It's done very well for me over the years, and it's doing even better for the country."

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"The way he negotiates at times involves facts that may not be facts, statements that may not have been said, and episodes that may not have occurred," Baker explains. "And at times, he denied saying what he had said." During those "68 minutes in a seaside auditorium, he offered a lens into his un­or­tho­dox mind, a range of false or dubious statements, and the myriad ways he has changed the presidency in 31 months," Josh Dawsey reflects at The Washington Post.

You can read Dawsey's observations from his front-row seat at The Washington Post.