Trump says Russia should be in G-7
President’s idea met with skepticism from allies, ex-U.S. envoys
WASHINGTON — Escalating his confrontation with American allies, President Donald Trump came to the summit of the Group of 7 major economic powers in Canada on Friday with a stunning proposal: that Russia be reinstated into their ranks, four years after its expulsion for its global transgressions.
“Now I love our country. I have been Russia’s worst nightmare,” Trump told reporters at the White House before departing for Joint Base Andrews for the flight to Quebec. “But with that being said, Russia should be in this meeting. Why are we having a meeting without Russia being in the meeting?”
Russia was expelled from what was then the G-8 in 2014, after Moscow’s annexation of Crimea. Subsequently, U.S. intelligence agencies concluded it interfered in the 2016 presidential election, and Trump’s campaign is currently under criminal investigation for possible collusion with Russia. Britain, a G-7 member, this year charged Russia with using a nerve agent to nearly kill two Russian exiles in an English town.
European Council President Donald Tusk, who wrote in The New York Times this week that the G-7 nations must stay together despite Trump’s “unfortunate and worrying” actions on trade and other issues, splashed cold water on his call to reinstate Russia during a news conference in Quebec prior to Trump’s arrival.
“Let’s leave seven as it is,” Tusk said. “It’s a lucky number.”
British Prime Minister Theresa May told the British TV network Sky News: “Let’s remember why the G-8 became the G-7. And before discussions could begin on any of this, we would have to ensure Russia is amending its ways and taking a different route.”
Trump later acknowledged to reporters, at separate one-on-one meetings with the summit host, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and French President Emmanuel Macron, that the group hadn’t even discussed his idea.
His proposal nonetheless further strained relations between the U.S. and its closest allies, many of whom have taken a more confrontational posture in recent days after Trump’s decision to impose steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada, Mexico and the European Union. Tensions were already simmering over his abandonment of the Paris climate accord and the Iran nuclear deal.
The drama drew uncommon attention to the usually sleepy annual summit, even as Trump prepares for his anticipated meeting Tuesday in Singapore with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. This G-7 conference now could be one of the most consequential in the 45 years since the major powers formed their alliance in response to the Arab oil embargo, and for a onceunthinkable reason: America’s estrangement from its closest allies, even as Trump openly advocates for Russia and its leader, Vladimir Putin.
“It’s not just unorthodox. It’s ineffective and it’s disgraceful for an American president to act this way,” said Nicholas Burns, who served in high-ranking diplomatic positions from the Reagan through George W. Bush administrations, including as ambassador to Greece and NATO. “It’s one thing to be tough on Iran and North Korea … but France and Britain? Come on.”
Burns called Trump’s pitch for Russia’s readmittance “preposterous” and suggested the president — who likes to tell audiences that the United States “is respected again” — is no longer taken seriously around the world. “I don’t take comfort in that,” he added. “We don’t want our president to be laughed at.”
At the summit site in a Quebec resort town, the appearance of the leaders for the traditional “family photo,” standing against the scenic backdrop of the St. Lawrence River and shoreline, captured the mood. The participants, including Trump, seemed unusually stilted in their interactions.
The White House had announced late Thursday that Trump would leave the summit early Saturday, but he arrived late as well after delaying his departure, partly to talk with reporters outside the Oval Office. That forced the postponement of the bilateral meeting with Macron, with whom Trump had traded Twitter taunts this week.
Tusk, in prepared remarks opening the summit before the tardy Trump arrived, warned that the G-7 division played into Putin’s hands, though he did not mention the Russian president by name.
“It is clear that the U.S. president and the rest of the group continue to disagree on trade, climate change and the Iran nuclear deal,” Tusk said. “What worries me most, however, is the fact that the rules-based international order is being challenged, quite surprisingly, not by the usual suspects but by its main architect and guarantor — the U.S.”
Other members of the group are Canada, France, Britain, Germany, Italy and Japan. Russia joined in 1997, several years after the fall of the Soviet Union, and was suspended in 2014 for its international aggressions, chiefly annexing Crimea.
Trump’s advocacy for Russia’s reinstatement drew bipartisan condemnation.
Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the Senate Democratic leader, said on Twitter: “The president’s support for inviting Russia back into the G-7, just after they meddled in the election to support his campaign, will leave millions of Americans with serious questions and suspicions.”
Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, assailed Trump in a statement. “The president has inexplicably shown our adversaries the deference and esteem that should be reserved for our closest allies,” he wrote, while allies “are being treated with contempt.”
Republican Sens. Jeff Flake of Arizona and Ben Sasse of Nebraska likewise weighed in, with Sasse tweeting that Putin “is a thug using Soviet-style aggression to wage a shadow war against America, and our leadership should act like it.”