Trump vexes allies on Russia

Not giving in on trade, he asserts

Donald Trump and other G-7 leaders pose for their “family portrait” Friday in Charlevoix, Quebec.
Donald Trump and other G-7 leaders pose for their “family portrait” Friday in Charlevoix, Quebec.

LA MALBAIE, Quebec -- President Donald Trump traveled to Canada on Friday for a day of meetings with the United States' closest allies, vowing before he left the United States that he will not capitulate on tariffs and surprising his counterparts with a call to reinstate Russia in their Group of Seven nations.

The president made the suggestion about Russia to reporters at the White House before leaving for the annual G-7 gathering, which already promised to be crackling with tension over trade, Iran and Trump's sharp-edged approach to foreign policy.

"Russia should be in this meeting. Why are we having a meeting without Russia being in the meeting?" Trump asked the reporters. "You know, whether you like it or not -- and it may not be politically correct -- but we have a world to run. And in the G-7, which used to be the G-8, they threw Russia out. They should let Russia come back in. Because we should have Russia at the negotiating table."

The response from the leaders of Europe, Canada and Japan was swift. Most rejected the return of Russia, which was ousted from the diplomatic forum after President Vladimir Putin violated international norms by seizing parts of Ukraine in 2014. And they assailed Trump's embrace of protectionism as illegal and insulting.

In Paris, President Emmanuel Macron's office said reinstating Russia wouldn't make sense and pointed out that the latest country to impose economic sanctions on Russia was the U.S.

Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, was also not convinced.

"Let's leave seven as it is," Tusk said. "It's a lucky number."

Russia seemed unconcerned with Trump's position. State news agencies quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying, "We are putting the emphasis on other formats."

Trump's Russia comment won a quick endorsement from Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, who said on Twitter that Russia's readmission would be "in everybody's interest."

Before the Russia development, the issue of tariffs was expected to dominate Friday's talks.

In a series of tweets just before departing Washington, Trump railed against Canadian tariffs on U.S. dairy products and promised to fight against "unfair Trade Deals" with other nations.

"Looking forward to straightening out unfair Trade Deals with the G-7 countries," he wrote. "If it doesn't happen, we come out even better!"

At a meeting devised for cooperation and comity, public smiles and descriptions of "cordial" conversations were undercut by what officials said was a struggle to agree on a common direction. The likelihood grew that the United States could be frozen out of a joint statement of principles by the countries that have so often followed America's lead.

"The rules-based international order is being challenged, quite surprisingly, not by the usual suspects, but by its main architect and guarantor, the U.S.," Tusk said as the summit got underway in the Quebec resort town of La Malbaie, on the banks of the St. Lawrence River.

Trump greeted Justin Trudeau, the prime minister of Canada, warmly at the official opening of the gathering. The friendly body language between the two men betrayed none of the animosity over trade during the previous 48 hours.

The camaraderie continued during the official "family photo," when the seven leaders posed for the cameras. Standing between Trudeau and Angela Merkel, the chancellor of Germany, Trump grinned broadly.

But the president's Russia suggestion promised to heighten animosities further, creating yet another schism between Trump and the six leaders he was meeting, largely in private, in the resort several hours outside of Quebec City. The seemingly off-the-cuff suggestion also sharpened the sense of isolation for the U.S. president at a summit meeting that some have branded the "G6+1."

In brief remarks before one-on-one meetings with Macron and Trudeau, Trump bragged about his good relationships and said he thought an agreement was still possible, but he also made telling jokes about the tensions that have been all-too evident for weeks.

When Trudeau was asked if he was disappointed that Trump had decided to leave early from the meeting today, Trump grinned, said, "He's happy," and playfully stuck out his tongue at the assembled reporters.

Trump showed up late and will leave early today, heading to Singapore for his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

In a blunt retort to Trump, Theresa May, the British prime minister, told Sky News on Friday that Russia would have to change its behavior before she would support welcoming the country back into the diplomatic fold.

"The phrase I've used is engage but beware. Let's remember why the G-8 became the G-7," she said, a reference to Russia's military actions in Ukraine that sparked its ouster from the group. "And before discussions could begin on any of this, we would have to ensure Russia is amending its ways and taking a different route."

Trump's impromptu news conference in Washington caused schedule delays that scuttled a planned one-on-one meeting Friday morning with Macron, who has been one of Trump's fiercest antagonists since the imposition of tariffs by the United States. The two men had traded barbs on Twitter earlier in the week.

White House officials rescheduled the bilateral meeting for later in the day, adding to a series of private meetings, a working lunch, a dinner for the leaders, and an evening cultural event.

Macron tweeted a video showing him sitting with Trump on a couch, talking amiably.

"Pursuing the conversation. Engaging, keeping the dialogue alive, now & ever," Macron wrote.

In the meeting with Macron, Trump insisted that "nothing's easy" while Macron described his conversations with the president as "very open and direct." In a meeting with Trudeau, Trump said again that he favored an overhaul of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

"It could be that NAFTA will be a different form," Trump said as Trudeau simply smiled.

The leaders from Britain, Germany, France, Canada, Japan and Italy may conclude the summit today with a forceful joint statement issued without Trump's signature, a striking departure from the usual display of cooperation that has punctuated meetings between the United States and its most important allies.

Over the course of his presidency, Trump has inflamed allies with his isolationist policies, including withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris climate accord and the international Iran-nuclear agreement. Under Trump, the United States has abandoned its traditional role in the G-7 as an advocate for freer global trade, instead pushing more protectionist policies.

"The rules-based international order is being challenged, not by the usual suspects but by its main architect and guarantor: the United States," said European Council President Donald Tusk.

Information for this article was contributed by Michael D. Shear of The New York Times; by Catherine Lucey and Rob Gillies of The Associated Press; and by Josh Wingrove, Kitty Donaldson and Helene Fouquet of Bloomberg News.

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The New York Times/DOUG MILLS

President Donald Trump sits Friday with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (clockwise), French President Emmanuel Macron and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and others during a G-7 working session in La Malbaie, Quebec.

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AP/The Canadian Press/CHRIS YOUNG

Riot police stand ready Friday in Quebec City ahead of protesters’ demonstration against the G-7 summit.

A Section on 06/09/2018

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