Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Fox Channels May Go Dark on YouTube TV From Wednesday Over Payment Dispute

10 hours ago

California Republicans Sue to Block Congressional Redistricting Plan

10 hours ago

Leaders, Journalist Groups React to Israeli Gaza Strike That Killed Five Journalists

14 hours ago

Trump To Sign Executive Order Directing AG To Prosecute Flag Desecration

16 hours ago

Trump Signs Orders Aimed At Ending Cashless Bail Policies

16 hours ago

Fresno County DUI Crash Sends Car Into Embankment Near Highway 99

18 hours ago

Wrongly Deported Migrant Abrego Again Detained by US Immigration Officials

18 hours ago

Fresno County Wildfire Burns 3,338 Acres, Evacuation Orders Issued

19 hours ago
Trump Portrays G-7 as a Lovefest, Papering Over Differences
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
August 27, 2019

Share

BIARRITZ, France — Never mind his differences with world leaders on China, trade, Russia, Iran and more. President Donald Trump’s takeaway message from the Group of Seven summit in France was “unity.” In fact, “flawless” unity.
During this year’s gathering of leaders of the world’s wealthiest democracies, Trump went to great lengths to portray it as something of a lovefest, papering over significant disagreements on major issues.
“If there was any word for this particular meeting of seven very important countries, it was unity,” Trump said at a news conference Monday closing out the two-day gathering in the French resort of Biarritz.
“We got along great,” he said. “We got along great.”
He continued that message Tuesday after returning home from France. “The G-7 was a great success for the USA and all,” he wrote in a tweet. “LameStream Media coverage bore NO relationship to what actually happened in France – FAKE NEWS. It was GREAT!”


After Trump disrupted the last two G-7 summits with his erratic behavior, other world leaders seemed determined to play along this year in the interest of keeping any negative drama out of the headlines.
First came the decision by French President Emmanuel Macron, the summit host, to scrap the annual practice of issuing a lengthy joint statement, or communique, at the summit’s conclusion.

Statement Plays Down Disagreements

The document typically spells out the consensus that leaders have reached on issues on the summit agenda and provides a roadmap for how they plan to tackle them.

French President Emmanuel Macron stressed that everyone had worked “together, hand in hand, with President Trump over these two days.”
Trump roiled the 2017 meeting in Italy over the climate change passage in that summit’s final statement. And he withdrew his signature from the 2018 communique after complaining he had been slighted by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the host that year.
“I think it’s against that background that Macron decided it’s not worth it” to issue a statement, said Thomas Bernes, a distinguished fellow at the Center for International Governance Innovation in Canada.
Instead, the leaders issued a final “declaration” that began, “The G7 leaders wish to emphasize their great unity and the positive spirit of their debates.”
Macron also sought to play down awkward differences and said that what the G-7 leaders were “really keen on was to convey a positive and joint message following our discussions.”
The French leader stressed that everyone had worked “together, hand in hand, with President Trump over these two days.”
For all of the happy talk, though, Trump came under pressure to end his lengthy trade dispute with China that is hurting other nations as well.
Macron said the dispute had served to “create uncertainty” that is “bad for the world economy.”
Differences over Russia didn’t stay hidden, either.
Photo of President Donald Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi
President Donald Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi participate in a bilateral meeting at the G-7 summit in Biarritz, France, Monday, Aug. 26, 2019. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Trump Accepting of North Korea Missile Tests

Trump, as he had before last year’s summit, said he would like to see Russia re-admitted to the club. The former G-8 kicked Russia out after President Vladimir Putin annexed the Crimean Peninsula in 2014.

“Russia has yet to change the behavior that led to its expulsion in 2014, and therefore should not be allowed back into the G-7.” — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
While his affinity for Russia has been questioned at home, Trump said Monday he’d prefer Russia be “inside the tent” rather than outside since so many of the issues the leaders discussed involved Russia.
Other members of the Group of Seven besides France, Canada, Italy and the U.S. are Britain, Germany and Japan.
Canada’s Trudeau told reporters he had privately aired his objection to Russian readmittance.
“Russia has yet to change the behavior that led to its expulsion in 2014, and therefore should not be allowed back into the G-7,” he said at a news conference.
For all the courting of Trump by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Trump wouldn’t adopt Abe’s position that short-range ballistic missile tests by neighboring North Korea violate U.N. resolutions.
Trump insisted that he and Abe were on the “same page” — but he appeared to defend the missile tests by North Korea’s Kim Jong Un by saying a lot of other people were testing missiles, too.
“We’re in the world of missiles, folks, whether you like it or not,” he said.

Macron Addresses Summit Challenges

Trump also claimed that “great unity” existed on Iran, but he largely just restated his long-held views about the country, some of them hardly shared.
France, Germany and other G-7 members are unhappy that Trump withdrew the U.S. from a 2015 international pact that eased sanctions on Iran in exchange for the Iranians agreeing to limit their nuclear program.
Trump said the biggest conclusion the leaders reached was that Iran “can’t have nuclear weapons.” Far from a breakthrough, that has been the world’s position for decades.
Asked about his efforts to ensure that fighters for the Islamic State group be returned to their home countries across Europe rather than housed by the United States, Trump said during a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel that the G-7 leaders had “a pretty good meeting.” But then he allowed that they had “not reached a total conclusion.”
“It’s unfair for the United States to take them, because they didn’t come from the United States,” he complained.
Macron flicked at the challenges of smoothing over differences by reaching back in history.
Seeking to justify the role of mediator between Iran and the United States that Macron is carving out, the French leader quoted one of his predecessors, World War II hero Gen. Charles de Gaulle, who said, “Diplomacy is trying to hold together broken windows.”

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

New Fresno EOC Chief: ‘We Have to Eliminate Bleeding Programs’

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Sheriff’s Deputy Arrested in Domestic Violence Case

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Crash With Semi-Truck Leaves Man Dead

DON'T MISS

Fox Channels May Go Dark on YouTube TV From Wednesday Over Payment Dispute

DON'T MISS

California Republicans Sue to Block Congressional Redistricting Plan

DON'T MISS

Two Students Arrested After Fight at Visalia’s Redwood High School

DON'T MISS

Trump Wants to Meet North Korea’s Kim This Year, He Tells South Korea

DON'T MISS

Fresno Police Arrest Man After Shooting and Stabbing Leave Two Hospitalized

DON'T MISS

Entz: Bulldogs Must ‘Learn, Burn, Return’ After Kansas Loss

DON'T MISS

Caleb Quick’s Father, Other Parents Protest at Fresno Court to Repeal Prop 57

UP NEXT

Trump Wants to Meet North Korea’s Kim This Year, He Tells South Korea

UP NEXT

Leaders, Journalist Groups React to Israeli Gaza Strike That Killed Five Journalists

UP NEXT

CA Bill To Give Interest On Insurance Payments To Homeowners

UP NEXT

Trump To Sign Executive Order Directing AG To Prosecute Flag Desecration

UP NEXT

Trump Signs Orders Aimed At Ending Cashless Bail Policies

UP NEXT

US National Guard Troops in Washington to Begin Carrying Weapons, Officials Say

UP NEXT

Israel Hits Gaza Hospital, Killing at Least 20 People, Including 5 Journalists

UP NEXT

Trump to Sign Orders Aimed at Ending Cashless Bail Policies

UP NEXT

US Envoy Meets Netanyahu on Lebanon and Syria, Israeli Officials Say

UP NEXT

Pentagon Working on Plans for Military Deployment in Chicago, Washington Post Reports

Fox Channels May Go Dark on YouTube TV From Wednesday Over Payment Dispute

10 hours ago

California Republicans Sue to Block Congressional Redistricting Plan

10 hours ago

Two Students Arrested After Fight at Visalia’s Redwood High School

10 hours ago

Trump Wants to Meet North Korea’s Kim This Year, He Tells South Korea

11 hours ago

Fresno Police Arrest Man After Shooting and Stabbing Leave Two Hospitalized

11 hours ago

Entz: Bulldogs Must ‘Learn, Burn, Return’ After Kansas Loss

11 hours ago

Caleb Quick’s Father, Other Parents Protest at Fresno Court to Repeal Prop 57

12 hours ago

SF Has Avoided Trump’s Ire Until Now. Will He Send National Guard?

13 hours ago

Lil Nas X Pleads Not Guilty to Felony Charges of Assaulting Police

14 hours ago

Leaders, Journalist Groups React to Israeli Gaza Strike That Killed Five Journalists

14 hours ago

New Fresno EOC Chief: ‘We Have to Eliminate Bleeding Programs’

Steven R. Lewis, the brand new chief executive officer of the Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission, says he’ll be prepared to ax p...

6 hours ago

Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission CEO, Steven Lewis
6 hours ago

New Fresno EOC Chief: ‘We Have to Eliminate Bleeding Programs’

Fresno County sheriff’s deputy Jaime Mendoza, 30, was arrested Monday, August 25, 2025, on suspicion of domestic violence, officials said. (Fresno County SO)
6 hours ago

Fresno County Sheriff’s Deputy Arrested in Domestic Violence Case

fresno
10 hours ago

Fresno County Crash With Semi-Truck Leaves Man Dead

YouTube app is seen on a smartphone in this illustration taken, July 13, 2021. (Reuters File)
10 hours ago

Fox Channels May Go Dark on YouTube TV From Wednesday Over Payment Dispute

California Governor Gavin Newsom, along with local congressional representatives, state officials and supporters, speaks as he announces the redrawing of California's congressional maps, calling on voters to approve a ballot measure, in response to a similar move in Texas being supported by U.S. President Donald Trump, in Los Angeles, California, U.S., August 14, 2025. (Reuters File)
10 hours ago

California Republicans Sue to Block Congressional Redistricting Plan

10 hours ago

Two Students Arrested After Fight at Visalia’s Redwood High School

U.S. President Donald Trump meets with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung at the Oval Office, at the White House, in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 25, 2025. (Reuters/Brian Snyder)
11 hours ago

Trump Wants to Meet North Korea’s Kim This Year, He Tells South Korea

11 hours ago

Fresno Police Arrest Man After Shooting and Stabbing Leave Two Hospitalized

Search

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Send this to a friend