#G7 trade discussion yesterday. I understand that Trump presented a list of grievances, listing what each country, one by one, owed the US - trade deficits, tariffs, defence and so on. Basically, a live performance of his Twitter threads.
Trump was especially "strong" towards Trudeau, ranting about agriculture, and Merkel. He reportedly said NAFTA was the second worst deal ever, WTO was the worst, and that US/he paid to defend other countries, they don't pay to defend themselves.
Macron hit back hard, imparting on "an economic lesson" to the US president, a source said, over how free trade works and why Trump's tariffs don't.
I understand that at one point, Trump suggested the creation a tariff-free zone among G7 members. 'you up for that?' According to the source, other leaders were later unclear whether this was a provocation or an actual proposal on the table.
The source described Trump as a "whirlpool", "out of control".
Earlier, during a meeting between the European G7 leaders, Italy's PM clarified his tweet about Russia rejoining G7/8 saying he meant *after* Russia meets its Minsk obligations (i.e. progress on Ukraine).
fwiw as a side note, I am told PM Conte made a good first impression on other European leaders.
I also understand that during the #G7 leaders’ discussion on trade Trump told Trudeau that it’s useless to make tearjerking speeches about Canadian soldiers helping US fight together in the war if he then puts very high tariffs on dairy products
