AFTER departing early from the G7 summit in Quebec for Singapore, President Donald Trump called on US representatives not to endorse the joint communique put out by the heads of the Group of Seven industrialised nations.
Trump made the statement on Twitter following ‘false statements’ made by Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The US President insisted that Trudeau’s remarks that Canada would not be pushed around ‘were very dishonest and weak’. ‘Based on Justin’s false statements at his news conference, and the fact that Canada is charging massive Tariffs to our US farmers, workers and companies, I have instructed our US Reps not to endorse the Communique as we look at Tariffs on automobiles flooding the US Market!’ the US president further stated.
The Canadian prime minister issued a statement following Trump’s twitter message, insisting that Trudeau said nothing at the G7 summit that he had not told Trump in person. Trump’s statement from aboard Air Force One presidential aircraft en route to Singapore – where he is to hold a historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un – came just minutes after the publication of a joint communique that had been approved by the other G7 leaders.
Earlier, Trudeau had insisted in a press briefing that Trump’s decision to invoke national security to justify US tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum was ‘insulting’ to Canadian veterans who had stood by their US allies in conflicts dating back to World War I. ‘Canadians are polite and reasonable but we will also not be pushed around,’ he emphasised, further adding that he had told Trump ‘it would be with regret but it would be with absolute clarity and firmness that we move forward with retaliatory measures on July 1, applying equivalent tariffs to the ones that the Americans have unjustly applied to us.’
UK Prime Minister Theresa May warned that the G7 will take further action against Russia if it continues to interfere in other countries’ internal affairs. She also said the EU would impose countermeasures after the US imposed tariffs on imported metal products, but warned against a ‘tit-for-tat’ response. Ahead of the G7 summit, Trump had called for the G7 to re-admit Russia.
