Trump trades Twitter insults
WASHINGTON — It may or may not be a trade war. But it’s definitely a Twitter war.Between friends.
On the eve of the annual summit of the so-called G-7 economic powers in Quebec, President Donald Trump traded thinly veiled insults over trade with French President Emmanuel Macron, who has worked to be one of Mr. Trump’s closest friends on the worldstage — to little avail.
Mr.Trump also took a shot at another ally, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, following Mr. Trudeau’s criticisms of the president’s tariffs on steel andaluminum imports.
The exchanges underscored the dramatic backdrop to this year’s summit: In the roughly 45-year history of the group of major industrialized countries, never has the United States been in a position of such open antagonism to its longtime allies.
The meetings in Canada Friday and Saturday were already expected to be spicy given Mr. Trump’s protectionist moves. While Mr. Macron has tweeted several times against the U.S. tariffs, in his most pointed one on Thursday he took a backhanded swipe at Mr. Trump’s “values”while threatening to isolatethe U.S. at the summit.
“The American President may not mind being isolated, but neither do we mind signing a 6 country agreement if need be,” he wrote. “Because these 6 countries represent values, they represent an economic market which has the weight of history behind it andwhich is now a true international force.”
Besides the United States, the other six countries of the G-7 are France, Canada, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdomand Italy.
Mr. Trump is well-known for the counter-punch and he did not disappoint, with a tweet that slapped at Mr. Trudeauas well.
“Please tell Prime Minister Trudeau and President Macron that they are charging the U.S. massive tariffs and create non-monetary barriers,” Mr. Trump wrote Thursday evening. “The EU trade surplus with the U.S. is $151 Billion, and Canada keeps our farmers and others out.”
China pledges probe
China said Thursday that it is prepared to help get to thebottom of a mysterious illness that has sickened Americans working at the U.S. Consulate in the southern part of the country and led to theevacuation of a number of diplomatsthis week.
ZTE deal struck
Mr. Trump handed the Chinese telecommunications firm ZTE a lifeline Thursday, agreeing to lift tough U.S. sanctions over the objections of Republican lawmakers, his defense advisers and some of his own economic officials.