The summit marks the first time other leaders use new ways to deal with Trump in person, pushing back on his declarations and threats.<\/b>
\nQUEBEC CITY \u2014 President Trump told foreign leaders at the Group of Seven summit that they must dramatically reduce trade barriers with the United States or they would risk losing access to the world\u2019s largest economy, delivering his most defiant trade threat yet to his counterparts from around the globe.
But there were numerous signs here that leaders of other countries stood their ground, having stiffened after months of attacks and insults. Each country now faces crucial decisions about how to proceed. If they don\u2019t back down and Trump does try to stop \u2013 or at least slow \u2013- trade, it could impact the flow of hundreds of billions of dollars in goods, potentially impacting millions of jobs in the U. S. and around the world.
Trump, in a news conference before leaving for Singapore, described private conversations he held over two days with the leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Canada. He said he pushed them to consider removing every single tariff or trade barrier on American goods, and in return he would do the same for products from their countries. But if steps aren\u2019t taken, he said, the penalties would be severe.
\u201cWe\u2019re like the piggy bank that everybody is robbing,\u201d Trump said. \u201cAnd that ends.\u201d
The president described the meetings with his counterparts as cordial, and he repeatedly blamed past U. S. leaders for what he views as a trade imbalance. He also said other nations had taken advantage of decades of U. S. complacency with regard to trade.
The two-day session in Charlevoix, Quebec, put Trump\u2019s transactional view of alliances, economic leverage and trade relationships into sharp focus for other nations often frustrated by Trump\u2019s ad hoc decision-making.
At this second G-7 gathering of Trump\u2019s presidency, the question of whether the U. S. leader would follow through on campaign boasts about punishing international freeloaders has been largely answered.
He did not back away or blunt his critiques, and despite first-name references to \u201cAngela,\u201d and \u201cJustin,\u201d Trump did little to disguise his distrust of the international consensus model of world affairs that the G-7 represents.
The weekend meeting marked the first time that other countries began employing new ways of dealing with Trump in person, pushing back on his declarations and threats and trying to illustrate the damage he was doing to the U. S. economy.
Representatives from other G-7 countries said they felt like they had made progress in conveying their positions to Trump, something many of them felt pressured to do by voters at home.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel\u2019s office released a photograph as Trump left the summit Saturday that showed her locked in an exchange with Trump: He is seated, arms folded, wearing an inscrutable expression. She stands opposite him, leaning over a table with both arms extended as other leaders and aides look on.
A Reuters photographer, meanwhile, captured a photograph Friday of the imprint that French President Emmanuel Macron left on Trump\u2019s right hand after a handshake, suggesting the French leader used a forceful grip.
Trump had grumbled to aides ahead of the meeting that he didn\u2019t want to go sit through lectures from the other leaders, and he mused about sending Vice President Mike Pence in his place.
He arrived at the meeting late and left early, holding a solo news conference Saturday morning where he gave the trade ultimatum and said the size of the U. S. economy means other nations can\u2019t win a trade war.
\u201cWe win that war a thousand times out of a thousand,\u201d Trump said.
Trump often appeared more interested in the unprecedented summit he will hold Tuesday with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, where he said he looks forward to sizing up both Kim and the potential for ending one of the world\u2019s most dangerous nuclear standoffs.
\u201cIt\u2019s a one-time shot, and I think it\u2019s going to work out very well,\u201d Trump said, adding later that there is also a significant chance of failure. He said he\u2019d probably know within the first minute of his sit-down with Kim whether he can make a deal. Trump credited his intuitive \u201ctouch\u201d as a dealmaker.
He bristled at a question that touched on the apparent disconnect between his confrontations with democratic allies in Canada and his enthusiasm for a meeting with a dictator.
\u201cI figured,\u201d he said dismissively, when the questioner identified himself as representing CNN. \u201cFake news CNN,\u201d Trump said.
Trump repeated his view that Russia should be readmitted despite its annexation of Ukraine\u2019s Crimea four years ago.
The leaders discussed the question of Russia\u2019s inclusion in the group but reached no conclusion, Trump said.
\u201cWe didn\u2019t do votes or anything, but it has been discussed,\u201d he said.
Trump first referred to the Crimean annexation, which led to the G-7 disinviting Russia, only obliquely.
\u201cSomething happened awhile ago where Russia is no longer in,\u201d he said. \u201cI think it would be good to have Russia back in.\u201d
\u201cWe\u2019re looking for peace in the world. We\u2019re not looking to play games,\u201d Trump said.
Russia is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and plays a significant role in international security issues. It also holds a seat in the larger Group of 20.
Trump is not the first politician to make the real politik argument that Russia belongs at the G-7 table, but his position is a complete turnabout from the Obama administration, which condemned the 2014 Russian annexation from Ukraine and imposed sanctions on Russia in punishment.
\u201cCrimea was let go during the Obama administration and you know Obama can say all he wants, but he allowed Russia to take Crimea. I might have had a very different\u201d response, Trump said.
Trump\u2019s pitch that world leaders eliminate all tariffs \u2013 or else \u2013 was his latest attempt to reorder the global trading system, which he says is stacked unfairly against the United States.
The two-day summit here was intended to cool tensions between Trump and other world leaders, but as they departed Saturday it became clear that many are still searching for answers and also searching for ways to deal with the unpredictable U. S. leader.
For example, on Friday evening, the White House issued a statement saying Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau were very close to a deal to rework the North American Free Trade Agreement.
But during his comments Saturday morning, Trump said there were still a number of different ways the NAFTA talks could play out, including the possibility of doing separate deals with Mexico and Canada, effectively cleaving the 20-year agreement in two.
\u201cIt was not contentious,\u201d Trump said. \u201cWhat was strong was the language that this cannot go on, but the relationships are very good.\u201d
Trump gave a much different account of the talks during the two-day summit than other officials. Canadians, for example, said Trudeau pushed back firmly on Trump\u2019s imposition of tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. But Trump made it sound like other countries acknowledged that they were cheating the U. S. in these trade deals and he had finally caught them in the act.
\u201cThe European Union is brutal to the United States and they know it,\u201d Trump said, adding that other leaders acknowledge as much in private.
European officials described a much different encounter with Trump than the one he portrayed. They also explained how his protectionist policies had given them no choice but to retaliate with tariffs of their own. Trump had tried to essentially splinter the European leaders by negotiating some changes with Germany and different ones with France, but those leaders appeared locked together in confronting Trump on trade.
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