President Donald Trump injected fresh drama into an already tense meeting of the Group of Seven major industrialized nations on Friday, calling for Russia, ousted for its the annexation of Crimea, to be reinstated.
Trump made the comment at the White House on Friday after hours of further escalating his rhetoric against longtime allies over US trade practices. “Why are we having a meeting without Russia in the meetingIJ” Trump asked. “They should let Russia come back in because we should have Russia at the negotiating table.”
Solidifying his solo status on the world stage, Trump also lashed out at longtime allies over their criticism of his trade policies. He plans an early exit from the G7 meeting.
Russia was ousted from the elite group in 2014 as punishment for President Vladimir Putin’s annexation of Crimea and its support for pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine. In the US, special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating whether Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia in a bid to sway the 2016 presidential election in his favour.
Trump will arrive Friday at the annual gathering, held this year at a Quebec resort, but will leave Saturday morning before the event is over, heading to Singapore for his highly anticipated summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The White House announced his travel plans after French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau signaled they would use the G7 event to take a stance against new US tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.
At a joint Press conference on Thursday, Macron said, “A trade war doesn’t spare anyone. It will start first of all to hurt US workers.” Trudeau said, “We are going to defend our industries and our workers.”