Meeting in Canada: G7 summit with Trump: The fiasco of Canada 2018

It was a historical scandal: when the G7 countries start their consultations in the Canadian Rocky Mountains today, the memory of the last group of the 2018 State group is very present. The Canadian broadcaster CBC even speaks of the “ghost of Charlevoix”. Because the meeting of the important democratic economic powers ended in a fiasco when US President Donald Trump – at the time during his first term – blew up the difficult summit compromise afterwards.

Seven years later, Canada now has the chair of the group of states again – and should definitely want to avoid a similar drama. Especially since the starting point is quite similar: Trump is again at the helm in Washington, again there are profound differences between the USA and the other G7 members. And again there is the question of whether the West is still coming together with Trump in the White House.

The United States and the other G7 countries had struggled to take a last minute at a last minute at the summit in La Malbaie at Québec at a last minute. But four hours after his departure, Trump pulled his approval to the text – a one -time process in the history of the G7.

He cited “false statements” by the then Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whom he described as “very dishonorable and weak” hosts. Trudeau had expressed Canadian countermeasures against US criminal duties at his final press conference: Canadians are friendly and reasonable, “but we cannot be commanded”.

A picture and its effect

The negotiations between Trump and the other heads of state and government were anything but easy. Against this background, there was a symbolic photo of the consultations published by the Federal Press Office.

The US President, who sits in the right corner of the picture with crossed arms in the right corner of the picture. Representatives of other G7 countries can be seen on the left side of the picture. They are all standing on the table in the middle, Chancellor Angela Merkel, who easily prevents herself, supports her hands on the table.

The picture was commented on a lot on social networks at the time. An employee of Trump published a picture of the same situation via Twitter – but from a different perspective. It looks like Trump is sitting in the middle, surrounded by people who listen to him.

Is there a new scandal threatening this time?

In view of the massive differences, this time it was not used to negotiate a comprehensive declaration of final. Instead, there should be individual explanations on certain topics. Means: In the event of arguments such as the Ukraine War or climate protection, the heads of state and government would not even have to try to get a common denominator somehow. The dynamics between Trump and the others at the summit in the Kananaski holiday destination is ultimately unpredictable.