Donald Trump invites crisis at G7 by attacking allies, embracing Russia

Source: USA Today | June 9, 2018 | Tom Nichols

President Trump airs grievances in a ‘poor, poor pitiful America’ finale to G7 summit marked by tension, ultimatums and a suspiciously strong handshake.

President Trump left the G7 summit in Canada early, declaring it concluded. It was actually still going on, but for him it was over, because he made a hash of it in record time.

Even before he got on Air Force One, Trump alienated our sister nation by embarking on a bizarre and inexplicable trade war. As he left he lashed out at our allies and partners in Europe — playing all of his greatest hits of imaginary American grievance, from “the United States has been taken advantage of for decades and decades” to “the European Union is brutal to the United States.”

Some of this could be excused as the normal wrangling among allies over trade and spending. This is not the first time that the U.S. and its partners have disagreed over important economic matters, and ironing out those disputes is why organizations like the G7 have summits in the first place.

But griping about the unfairness of international life wasn’t enough for the president, who knew he was going to face some angry questions about his impenetrably backward views on trade. So Trump upped the ante by raising the bafflingly dumb and politically ludicrous idea of bringing Russia back into the G7.

This is not a normal disagreement among allies; this is an American repudiation of what the G7 is supposed to represent. 

…….

Trump’s reaction to such opposition — at least when it comes from friends like Canada and France, rather than from the enemies he fears, like Russia and China — is to double down. Perhaps he raised the issue of inviting Putin merely because he knows it’s so ridiculous and insulting. Maybe he feels outnumbered at the G7 and wishes there was someone there who understands him.

The summit ended with a stern rejection from German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the other leaders that there would be no reconstitution of the G7 into a G8 with Russia anytime soon. This was probably gratifying to Trump, who does such things precisely to elicit such reactions from people who understand things better than he does. (Although one wonders if the president had second thoughts when French President Emmanuel Macron gripped his hand so tightly that it left a mark.)

The Russians, in any case, must be mightily pleased. Dividing America from Europe has been one of Moscow’s core foreign policy goals since the early 20th century, and Putin — a man of the Soviet era masquerading as a modern Russian — will rightly consider himself one of the greatest masters of the Kremlin in Russian history if he helps to break apart NATO and neutralize the European Union. 

Fortunately, the Russians have never succeeded in prying Europe away from the Americans. Now, however, the American president is doing it on his own, and accomplishing more damage in months than the Kremlin was able to do in years. This moment will pass, but a future U.S. president is going to have a lot of repair work to do – unless Trump’s penchant for attacking our allies and pleasing our enemies leads to a major economic or even military crisis sooner than we expect.

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