President Donald Trump has stunned world leaders by rejecting a joint statement that traditionally follows the G7, and has escalated his feud with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau by calling him 'dishonest and weak'.
Trump said in a Twitter tirade on Saturday night that he has 'instructed our U.S. Reps not to endorse the Communique', just hours after all the members came to a consensus in Quebec and signed the summit's 'joint communique'.
The joint communique is a statement of broad goals and principles endorsed by the G7 leaders, and Trump's refusal means that this will be the first year that the annual summit fails to issue one. Instead, Canada will likely issue a chair's summary of the meeting listing the major topics of discussion. Trump also slammed Trudeau for 'making false statements' and accused him of being 'meek and mild' in their one-on-one meeting on Friday before the Canadian leader came out swinging against the US in a press conference on Saturday.
After the White House on Friday said that Trump's meeting with Trudeau was 'great' and the leaders were 'close to a deal' on trade, Trump's latest counter-punch cast doubt on any hopes for a quick resolution of his mounting tariff disputes with Canada and the European Union, and signaled that Trump is far from backing down. READ MORE
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