Trump takes hard line with US allies at G-7 summit

Source: The Hill | June 9, 2018 | Max Greenwood

President Trump exited the Group of Seven (G-7) summit on Saturday with a stark warning to some of Washington’s closest allies: reduce trade barriers or face consequences.

As he prepared to depart early from the G-7 summit in Charlevoix, Canada, to head to Singapore ahead of his planned meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Trump delivered an ultimatum to foreign leaders, demanding that their countries reduce trade barriers for the U.S. or risk losing market access to the world’s largest economy. 

“They have no choice. I’ll be honest with you, they have no choice,” Trump told reporters at a news conference, adding that companies and jobs had left the U.S. to escape trade barriers abroad. “We’re going to fix that situation. And if it’s not fixed, then we’re not going to deal with these countries.”

“We’re the piggy bank that everybody is robbing,” Trump added at one point. “And that ends.”

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And as the summit began, Trump called on the group to readmit Russia to the G-7 — a call that was swiftly shot down by most of the other members’ leaders. Russia was kicked out of the group in 2014 after it annexed Crimea from Ukraine.

Despite that pushback, Trump continued to insist in his remarks on Saturday that Russia should be allowed back into the group of nations. Doing so, he said, would be a “positive thing.”

“I would say the G-8 is a more meaningful group than the G-7,” he said, referring to the group’s name prior to Russia’s suspension.

Trump also made a veiled reference to Russia’s annexation of Crimea, alluding to the fact that “something happened a while ago” that prompted Moscow’s suspension from the G-7. He later placed blame on his predecessor, former President Obama, for allowing Russia to take control of the territory.

At several points in his news conference, Trump appeared to take a friendlier tone toward North Korea than he did toward many of Washington’s G-7 allies. He spoke about the North’s potential to be a “great” country, and said he looked forward to meeting with Kim on Tuesday.

“I really feel confident,” he said. “I really feel that Kim Jong Un wants to do something great for his people and he has that opportunity and he’ll never have that opportunity again.”

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