G-7 Canada, Trump Delivers Slap to His Allies: He Will Leave Summit Early To Fly to Kim

This is an unprecedented slight. The president flees in order to avoid criticism on the super tariffs, and to avoid the part of the summit dedicated to the environment.

Donald Trump will leave the Group of Seven leading industrial nations summit that is starting today in Canada without waiting for the summit to end. The White House officially announced that the U.S. president will leave halfway through the summit, at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday. It is a slap to his allies, an unprecedented gesture in the more than 40-year history of summits. The official reason is that the president wants to leave early to fly directly from Canada to Singapore for a summit about which he cares much more: the face-to-face meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

However, the logistic excuse does not hold up. No matter how long the flight might take, the summit with Kim is scheduled for June 12. Therefore, it is not at all necessary to take off two days early. Moreover, it is very peculiar for the U.S. president to abandon a meeting with his main allies halfway through and show more consideration for someone who is still a bitter enemy on paper. (The United States and North Korea never signed a peace treaty after the war of 1950-1953.)

There is another blatant motive behind this discourtesy toward the world’s six largest economies. Many allies are furious over the high tariffs the U.S. administration imposed on their products. Trump is well aware of this, as Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel and host Justin Trudeau have not concealed their displeasure. At the G-7, they are going to voice their criticism and America will be rather isolated (though not completely, as Japan, Great Britain and Italy are probably less eager to attack Trump.)

Besides, by leaving at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, Trump will skip the part of the summit dedicated to climate change and environmental policies. This is an area where America is utterly isolated after this administration announced its intent to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement. In response, Macron said, “The American president may not mind being isolated, but neither do we mind signing a six-country agreement if need be.” The French president’s resentment is understandable. He was under the mistaken impression that he had forged a special relationship with Trump, but he got nothing out of it.