‘Let Russia back in’

President Donald Trump injected fresh drama into an already tense meeting of the Group of Seven major industrialized nations 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 U.S. trade practices.

“Why are we having a meeting without Russia in the meeting?” 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 U.S., 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 arrived Friday at the annual gathering, held this year at a Quebec resort, but will leave this morning before the event is President Donald Trump boards Air Force One in Andrews Air Force Base, Md., for a trip to the G7 Summit in Charlevoix, Que.

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 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau signalled they would use the G7 event to take a stance against new U.S. 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 U.S. workers.” Trudeau said: “We are going to defend our industries and our workers.”

Trudeau, for his part, said Trump’s action would hurt American workers as well as Canadians.

“If I can get the president to actually realize that what he’s doing is counterproductive for his own goals as well, perhaps we can move forward in a smarter way,”

Trudeau said.

As tempers frayed, Trump had a ready retort, via tweet: “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. Look forward to seeing them tomorrow.”

Later Thursday, Trump tweeted: “Prime Minister Trudeau is being so indignant, bringing up the relationship that the U.S. and Canada had over the many years and all sorts of other things...but he doesn’t bring up the fact that they charge us up to 300% on dairy - hurting our Farmers, killing our Agriculture!”

A few hours later, he added, “Take down your tariffs & barriers or we will more than match you!”

With a cool reception all but assured,

Trump has complained to aides about even having to attend the meeting, especially since his summit with Kim is just days away.

Late Thursday, the White House announced that Trump would be leaving the G7 late this morning to head to Singapore ahead of his summit with Kim, though the G7 meeting was scheduled to last until later that day.

Trump will skip out on G7 meetings about climate change, clean energy and ocean protection.

This marks Trump’s second summit of the G7, an informal gathering every year under a rotating chairmanship. The member countries are Canada, France, Italy, Japan, Germany, the United States and Britain.

The European Union also attends. Trump is set to hold a series of group and one-on-one meetings, including with Trudeau and Macron.