If the G20 were a music festival, you’d be stressing about not being there. The once snooze-worthy global power fest now looks like diplomacy on steroids.
Trump, who normally shuns international travel, is turning the event into a one-stop diplomatic shop, with seven bilateral meetings scheduled in 48 hours.
Not yet on the agenda: a meeting between Trump and Theresa May, but it will be worth watching the body language when they do cross paths. Just this week, Trump publicly criticized her Brexit deal, saying it makes the prospect of a trade deal between the United States and the United Kingdom post-Brexit unlikely.
If you are minnow, even a big one like May, Trump is a dangerous ally, even on a good day. Just ask German Chancellor Angela Merkel. She’s down for a one-on-one with Trump, and it’s hard to remember the last time he didn’t try to undercut her just before they met.
But this year’s breakout star will be Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman. Pretty much any leader he meets will be an event in itself.
Did they smile? Did they shake hands? Did they broker any deals or sign any new ones? And did any of them give bin Salman a dressing down over the brutal killing two months ago of Jamal Khashoggi? And if not, why not?
The meetings are endless. Access, sadly, is harder come by than a Rolling Stones backstage pass. Even if you get one, it will need to come with an accompanying unicorn so you can jump the tedious rings of security.
Still, this is the place to be.
It’s the type of weekend when rumors are legion and facts tantalizing.
How big was Putin’s grin? Did bin Salman get the cold shoulder — and was he about to leave before it all began? Did Xi blink? And which leader most drew Trump’s ire? Merkel and Trudeau know all about that.
A lot of people will be hoping it’s not Xi. In bad news for world trade, both he and Trump seem set on course to escalate a trade war.
