Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Saturday that all members of the Group of Seven (G-7) had signed on to a joint statement, ending speculation that the United States could be excluded from such a communique.
“I’m happy to announce that we’ve released a joint communique by all seven countries,” Trudeau said in closing remarks at the G-7 summit in Charlevoix, Canada.
The group of industrialized democracies — the U.S., France, Canada, Italy, Japan, Germany and the United Kingdom — traditionally issues a joint communique at the conclusion of their annual summit.
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But President Trump, defiant over objections to his administration’s tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, went into the G-7 summit ready for confrontations from some of America’s closest allies.
Trump tussled with Trudeau and French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday, a day before the summit began, over the tariffs.
Macron on Thursday delivered a stark message to Trump, warning that no leader lasts forever.
“The six countries of the G-7 without the United States, are a bigger market taken together than the American market,” Macron said during a joint press conference Trudeau in Ottawa. “There will be no world hegemony if we know how to organize ourselves. And we don’t want there to be one.”
Trump took a jab at Macron for his comments, tweeting, “Please tell Prime Minister Trudeau and President Macron that they are charging the U.S. massive tariffs and create non-monetary barriers. The EU trade surplus with the U.S. is $151 Billion, and Canada keeps our farmers and others out.”
The president then departed Charlevoix on Saturday morning — hours earlier than initially scheduled — to travel to Singapore ahead of his planned summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Speaking at a news conference on Saturday morning, Trump demanded that G-7 countries drastically reduce trade barriers for the U.S. or risk losing access to the world’s largest economy.
The series of snubs and demands from Trump — alongside other long-simmering disagreements with key U.S. allies — prompted speculation that the U.S. would be left out of the joint communique with the other G-7 leaders.
But Trump rebuked claims on Saturday that his relationships with G-7 leaders were on the rocks, telling reporters that they couldn’t be better.
“The level of relationship is a 10. Angela [Merkel], Emmanuel [Macron], Justin [Trudeau],” he said. “I would say the relationship is a 10.”