US Blames Canada for G7 Fiasco, Says Trudeau ‘Stabbed Us in the Back’
France condemns Trump ‘fits of anger’
The US blamed Canada on Sunday for the disastrous ending to the G7 summit, saying Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “stabbed us in the back,” while American allies held Washington responsible, Agence France-Presse reported.
Just minutes after a joint communique, approved by the leaders of the Group of Seven allies, was published in Canada’s summit host city Quebec, US President Donald Trump launched a Twitter broadside, taking exception to comments made by Trudeau at a news conference.
“He really kinda stabbed us in the back,” top US economic advisor Larry Kudlow said of Trudeau on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“He did a great disservice to the whole G7.”
“We went through it. We agreed. We compromised on the communique. We joined the communique in good faith,” Kudlow said.
US trade advisor Peter Navarro, speaking on “Fox News Sunday,” reinforced that message.
“There’s a special place in hell for any foreign leader that engages in bad-faith diplomacy with President Donald J. Trump and then tries to stab him in the back on the way out the door,” he said.
“That’s what bad-faith Justin Trudeau did with that stunt press conference. That’s what weak, dishonest Justin Trudeau did.”
Kudlow sought to tie Trump’s reaction to the upcoming summit with Kim Jong Un, saying the North Korean leader “must not see American weakness.”
Trump -- who has a history of hair-trigger responses to slights -- landed in Singapore on Sunday for the Tuesday summit meeting with Kim.
Before his departure from Canada the previous day, he tweeted: “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!”
Meanwhile, the French President Emmanuel Macron has, in a statement reported by BBC, warned that diplomacy cannot be dictated by “fits of anger”.
Macron’s office said France and other EU countries would maintain their support for the final G7 communique.
“Let’s be serious and worthy of our people. We make commitments and keep to them,” a statement from the French presidency quoted by AFP news agency said.
“International co-operation cannot be dictated by fits of anger and throwaway remarks,” it added.
Germany also said it would abide by the communique.