Trump makes G7 summit return in crisis mode
US President Donald Trump last attended a G7 summit in Canada in 2018. (AP pic)
WASHINGTON : US President Donald Trump, whose second term has been devoted to going it alone, makes his return to the Group of Seven in crisis mode after Israel attacked Iran.
The G7 summit starting Sunday in the Canadian Rockies town of Kananaskis marks the first major global gathering of Trump's second term, in which he has been even more brash in shattering diplomatic norms.
Looking to avoid a dust-up, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney had set the agenda on largely uncontroversial themes such as building global supply chains for critical minerals.
That agenda could now be upended as Israel launched a massive military campaign against Iran on Friday, saying it was taking pre-emptive action against its adversary's contested nuclear programme.
The Trump administration has closely aligned the US with Israel, taking aim even at close allies who criticise its offensive in Gaza.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu openly defied Trump, who hours earlier had called for a diplomatic solution and whose friend and roving envoy Steve Witkoff had been due to hold new talks with Iran on Sunday just as the G7 opened.
A senior Canadian official said there would be no attempt at the G7 to reach consensus on a joint communique on the issues of the day and that leaders instead would be asked to endorse 'short, action-oriented statements'.
'Of course it would be desirable for a summit statement to be issued, but as the summit is being held in a very complex international situation, I believe that the unity of the G7 should be given the highest priority,' Japanese foreign minister Takeshi Iwaya said.
The last time Trump attended a G7 summit in Canada in 2018, he stormed out early and took to social media to disassociate the US from the statement and brand then-prime minister Justin Trudeau as 'dishonest and weak'.
The bad blood never ended, and Trump on returning to office mockingly said Canada should be the 51st US state.
Trudeau handed over the premiership in March to Carney, a former central banker who told Trump firmly in the White House that Canada was 'never for sale'.
Like Trump, 'Trudeau liked being the centre of attention', said John Kirton, founder of the G7 Research Group at the University of Toronto.
Trudeau at least at first was seen as 'young, handsome and – I'm quoting others – hot. Carney is none of these things', Kirton said.
Carney has instead patched up with Trump through his analytical skills and competence, Kirton said.
Trump also has an incentive to keep the peace in Kananaskis – the US will lead the G7 in 2027.
'He doesn't want to kill the G7 golden goose before he can produce the 'biggest, best summit ever' for the whole world stage two years from now,' Kirton said.
The G7 club of major industrial democracies – Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US – was formed in the 1970s to coordinate economic policy and grew in scope to take on some of the world's security hotspots.
Trump since returning to the White House has upended the global economic system by imposing tariffs and has sought to negotiate with Russia over Ukraine – an issue that will also figure prominently when he heads to a Nato summit in The Hague a week after Canada.
The US president can be expected to push back in Kananaskis if allies seek to moderate him, said Rachel Rizzo, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council.
'He does not view these organisations as ways to deepen and expand American power and influence. He sees these fora as constraining America,' she said.
Europeans will observe Trump at the G7 to see how he treats their alliance, said Max Bergmann, director of the Europe, Russia and Eurasia programme at the centre for strategic and international studies.
'Our allies and partners in Europe are really questioning the US commitment and they are asking themselves, is this a relationship that is going to be maintained?'
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky plans to attend the G7 and hopes to meet Trump. The two clashed bitterly at the White House on Feb 28 but Trump since then has voiced frustration at Russia's reluctance on peace overtures.
In a key step distancing himself from Trudeau, Carney has also invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Relations sharply deteriorated after Trudeau publicly accused India of masterminding the assassination of a Sikh separatist in Canada.
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