Donald Trump has left the two-day Group of Seven summit in Quebec after acting like the ridiculous buffoon everyone expected him to be. This time, however, the patience of other world leaders who previously had tried to coddle the man-child president seems to have evaporated.
Trump arrived late and left early after “delivering his most defiant trade threat yet to his counterparts from around the globe,” according to The Washington Post. He also argued that Russia should be allowed to rejoin the G-7 after being booted for annexing Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula in 2014. Vladimir Putin seems to have accomplished much without even having to attend the summit.
According to the Post, Trump bullied the leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Canada over removing all tariffs and trade barriers on U.S. goods. Otherwise, Trump threatened, countries would lose key access to the U.S. market, potentially resulting in the loss of millions of jobs around the world, according to the newspaper.
Trump denied that the meetings were contentious, but other participants had a different take. On Instagram, German Chancellor Angela Merkel posted a remarkable photo of a meeting with Trump in which the tension is palpable. Merkel hovers over Trump in the photo as the U.S. president sits defensively with his arms crossed and a look of aversion plastered on his face. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also has his arms crossed, while U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton stands with his mouth agape.
Merkel also was pissed off at Trump for arriving late and interrupting a meeting on gender equality. According to BuzzFeed, citing media pool reports, Trump arrived 17 minutes late to the morning meeting, missing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s opening remarks and causing a commotion in the conference room. An Associated Press photo of Trump’s arrival succinctly captures the mood in the room at the time.
BuzzFeed also reported that a Friday meeting between Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron was canceled because Trump was late. Photos that day of a handshake between the two presidents show that Macron’s grip was so tight he left a visible mark on Trump’s hand.
And then, in a masterful bit of trolling by the Canadian host, Trudeau gave Trump a picture of a hotel in Canada owned by Trump’s grandfather. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders shared a photo of the exchange on Twitter, calling it a “great moment.”
But, as Bloomberg noted in a 2016 report, Trump’s grandfather actually operated a gold rush brothel “known for good food, booze and ready women.” The look on Trudeau’s face in the photo shared by Sanders is priceless.
Twitter users also were amused:
Trump was right about one thing regarding the G-7 summit: He should have just stayed home.