Trump faces G7 summit showdown over his trade tariffs against US allies

DONALD Trump faces a showdown with Theresa May and the other G7 leaders today over his trade tariffs plan.

Donald Tusk, the President of the European Council, predicted the high-powered meeting would be “far from easy”.

No 10 insisted the Prime Minister had not been snubbed by the US President when it emerged he was the only world leader she was not having a formal meeting with at the gathering in La Malbaie in Quebec.

Mrs May twice refused to say whether she had requested a formal bilateral with Mr Trump.

She said: “I talk with President Trump regularly…i spoke to him earlier at the beginning of this week and I’ll be talking to him around this G7.

“What is important is the UK and the US come together in a whole variety of ways to talk about the issues that matter to us both.

“In the future we’ll be talking about future trade relations but, of course, the security relationship that underpins the UK’S long-standing special relationship with the US is of particular importance to us.”

Asked if Mr Trump was a good friend to the UK, the PM said: “The United States and the United Kingdom are good friends. President Trump and I work together.

“Yes, sometimes we disagree on issues but when we disagree because of the nature of our relationship we’re able to have that frank and open discussion.”

It was suggested that Mr Trump had become frustrated with Mrs May’s “school mistress” tone.

As fears of a trade war rise following America’s imposition of tariffs on European steel and aluminium, the President created an acrimonious atmosphere even before he landed in Canada, tweeting how the summit was an opportunity for “straightening out unfair trade deals” with the rest of the G7. He added: “If it doesn’t happen, we come out even better.”

He criticised other nations for their treatment of the US but predicted tensions would ease, adding: “We’ll all be in love again.”

French President Emmanuel Macron stressed that the US was now isolated.

But Mr Trump’s comments on Russia – backed by Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte – added further to the tensions. He said: “You know, whether you like it or,and it may not be politically correct, but we have a world to run and in the G7, which used to be the G8, they threw Russia out. They should let Russia come back in.”

But Mrs May resisted the idea, saying: “We should remind ourselves why the G8 became the G7; it was because Russia illegally annexed Crimea.” The PM, who has been at the forefront of diplomatic efforts to build an alliance against Russia after the Salisbury nerve agent attack on ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, went on: “We have seen malign activity from Russia in a whole variety of ways; of course, including on the streets of Salisbury in the UK.”