Making Canada the 51st State and Taking Over Greenland: Macron and Carney at a G7 Summit in Kananaskis
KANANASKIS, Alberta — Leaders of some of the world’s biggest economic powers arrived in the Canadian Rockies on Sunday for a Group of Seven summit, overshadowed by an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran and U.S. President Donald Trump’s unresolved trade war.
An official with the US told The Associated Press that Trump turned down an Israeli plan to kill Iran’s Supreme Leader.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he had discussed efforts to de-escalate the crisis with Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as other world leaders and said he expected “intense discussions” would continue at the summit.
As summit host, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has decided to abandon the annual practice of issuing a joint statement, or communique, at the end of the meeting.
With other leaders wanting to talk to Trump in an effort to talk him out of imposing tariffs, the summit risks being a series of bilateral conversations rather than a show of unity.
The summit is going to be a wild card. He arrived at the international summit sporting a “Make America Great Again” hat. He was greeted by four Mounties. Looming over the meeting are his inflammatory threats to make Canada the 51st state and take over Greenland. French President Emmanuel Macron visited Greenland on Sunday for a highly symbolic stop on his way to Canada. The leader warned that the island of Greenland is not for sale or to be taken.
“Everybody in France, the European Union thinks that Greenland is not to be sold, not to be taken,” he said during a news conference, applauded by the local crowd.
G7 leaders gather in Canada for a summit overshadowed by Israel-Iran crisis: Trump does not want to be bully
The heads of state of India, Ukraine, Brazil, South Africa, South Korea, Australia and the United Kingdom are not part of the G7 so were not invited to the summit. The top priority will continue to be avoiding tariffs.
Asked if he planned to announce any trade agreements at the G7 as he left the White House on Sunday, Trump said: “We have our trade deals. All we have to do is send a letter: ‘This is what you’re going to have to pay.’ But I think we’ll have a few, few new trade deals.”
Former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien told a panel this week that if Trump does act out, leaders should ignore him and remain calm like Carney did in his recent Oval Office meeting.
“He tends to be a bully,” Chrétien said. If Trump makes a show to be in the news, he will do crazy things. Let him do it, and talk normally.
Last month Britain and the U.S. struck a deal that will make it cheaper for Americans to buy British cars, steel and aluminum. However, it hasn’t taken effect yet and the British aren’t worried that the Trump administration might go back on its word.
Source: G7 leaders gather in Canada for a summit overshadowed by Israel-Iran crisis
The United States and the G7 in Canada are preparing to leave for a summit on the Middle East, the White House has told reporters
Starmer wouldn’t say if he told Trump to stop the threats, but he did say “Canada is an independent, sovereignty country and a very valued member of the Group of 20.”
The war in Ukraine will be on the agenda. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is due to attend the summit and is expected to meet with Trump, a reunion coming just months after their bruising Oval Office encounter which laid bare the risks of having a meeting with the U.S. president.
The first visit by a British Prime Minister in eight years happened before the summit when Starmer had a meeting with Carney in Canada.
German officials were keen to counter the suggestion that the summit would be a “six against one” event, noting that the G7 countries have plenty of differences of emphasis among themselves on various issues.
“The only the problem you cannot forecast is what the president of the United States will do depending on the mood, the need to be in the news,” said Chrétien.
According to a German government spokesman travelling with Trump, the other G7 leaders had been trying to craft a joint statement on the Middle East, but that it was up to the American side to decide whether that statement would come to fruition.
Trump told reporters he was in constant contact with Netanyahu and that Iran needed to agree to stop its nuclear program. “I want to make sure that there is no nuclear weapon in Iran, and we’re well on our way to doing that”, said Trump, when asked if he wanted to see regime change in Iran.
CALGARY, Alberta — President Trump is leaving the G7 in Canada early to return to Washington to focus on the conflict in the Middle East, the White House said.
I need to be back. It’s very important,” Trump told reporters after posing for the traditional ‘family photo’ with the other leaders. “You will probably see the thing that I see,” Trump said. “I have to be back as soon as I can.”
Trade issues at the G7 summit: Iran-Israel strikes and a joint statement on the status of the P5+1+1 agreement with the G8 – Argentina agreement
Trade issues were expected to be the major focus at the summit. Iran-Israel strikes have overshadowed the G7 meetings with leaders discussing a joint statement on the conflict.