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G7 LEADERS TODAY found common cause on combatting terrorism after the bloodshed in Manchester but failed to bridge a gulf between Donald Trump and US partners on trade and climate change.
On the opening day of a two-day summit, the leaders endorsed a British call urging internet service providers and social media companies to crack down on the dissemination of jihadist content online, after 22 people were killed in the concert bombing in northwest England this week.
But US partners hit deadlock in their attempt to persuade Trump to keep the world’s biggest economy inside the framework of the 2015 Paris Agreement on curbing carbon emissions to reduce global warming.
Tensions over trade also flared. Unusually for such a set-piece event, leaders made no effort to hide their divisions in Sicily’s ancient hilltop resort of Taormina.
The choice of venue overlooking the Mediterranean reflected the Italian hosts’ desire for the summit to showcase cooperation against deadly flows of illegal migration from nearby Africa.
But discussions on that subject also hit stalemate because of differences with the US at what EU president Donald Tusk called “the most challenging G7 summit in years”.
Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni acknowledged there had been no breakthrough on climate change, describing the future of the Paris pact as “still hanging”, as Trump reviews the arguments for and against ditching the global deal.
Gary Cohn, Trump’s economic advisor, said the president’s views were “evolving”.
“He came here to learn,” Cohn said. “His basis for decision ultimately will be what’s best for the United States.”
‘Bad, very bad’
British Prime Minister Theresa May led the discussion on terrorism, and won backing for her demand that extremist content should be quickly taken offline by platforms like Facebook and YouTube — although details of what this will mean in practice were left vague.
“Make no mistake: the fight is moving from the battlefield to the internet,” May told her colleagues.
In a joint statement on terrorism, the G7 powers also vowed a collective effort to track down and prosecute foreign fighters dispersing from theatres of conflict such as Syria.
Transatlantic tensions on trade resurfaced after reports that Trump had described the Germans as “bad, very bad” and vowed to stop them selling millions of cars in the United States, during a meeting with senior EU officials in Brussels yesterday.
Also in Brussels, Trump had fired an extraordinary broadside at NATO allies for failing to pay their fair share of the transatlantic defence bill, and notably did not endorse the group’s commitment to collective defence, as his predecessors have done.
Both US and EU officials confirmed the outspoken president had raised the auto trade issue but sought to play down the language used, as Trump shared friendly words with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other leaders at the G7.
Merkel said that Trump’s criticism was “not really something new”.
“The surplus is also a sign of the good quality of German goods,” she said.
Trump rode to power on an “America First” platform but has yet to implement any significant protectionist measures, as the EU had feared he would.
“We are going to continue to fight for what we believe is right, which is free, open and fair trade, which the president has been very clear on what that means,” Cohn said.
Russia row
For Trump, the talks were the final leg of his first presidential foray overseas.
The gruelling week-long trip briefly diverted attention from domestic concerns focused on alleged campaign collusion with Russia.
But that issue reared up again overnight as it emerged the FBI is examining his son-in-law Jared Kushner’s contacts with the Russian ambassador in connection with the probe of alleged interference in the election campaign by Moscow.
Trump has refused to commit the United States to extending sanctions imposed on Russia over its 2014 annexation of Crimea. But Cohn said neither would the sanctions be curtailed, as Moscow hopes.
“If anything we would probably look to get tougher on Russia,” the economic aide said.
In other talks, France’s new president, Emmanuel Macron, gave short shrift to May’s request for Brexit-bound Britain and the EU to negotiate their future trading relationship at the same time as they thrash out the terms of their divorce.
Japan meanwhile was using the summit to air its concerns about North Korea. Meeting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Sicily, Trump bullishly promised the problem posed by North Korea’s missile and nuclear programmes “will be solved”.
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Lovely photo of Donald and Melania holding hands, she’s arguably the most glamourous First Lady ever to grace the White House.
@Saul Cusack: or the most made up. Looks like paddy the plasterer did a job on her
@Saul Cusack: And also the most unhappy looking one….
@Kerry Blake:
I think that mantle still belongs to Jackie worn down from her philandering husband.
Sort of ironic banning Russia from the meeting and having the fight against Jihad and IS as top of agenda…..Russia is fighting against Sunni Jihad and IS in Syria for several years….
@Saul Cusack: Yeah, a real classy lady and a respectable career behind her.
@Saul Cusack: Tom/Tommy/Cal/Daniel/Jack Cassady/Saul! Jaysus, have you had to set up yet another fake FB profile again?
@Saul Cusack: She’s a tramp.
@DaisyChainsaw: Don’t forget “Alex”.
@Stephen murphy: Jackie had class and was a very intelligent woman a great editor . Melania always look like she don’t want to be there and all she has to do is outlive Trump .
@Saul Cusack: Yeah! She doesn’t live in the White House, by the way. She swatted away his hand on at least two occasions during this trip but now, she is obviously reluctantly holding his sweaty little paw for the cameras. Just look at the expression on her face ?
@Saul Cusack: don’t agree, Michelle Obama beats her any day. She wasn’t kept woman like Melinda is
The irony of G7 members trying to encourage social media companies to ‘crack down’ on radical Islamist content while selling arms and supporting the biggest single promoter of radical Islam….Saudi Arabia.
@Leo Massey: Appropos nothing, but how are Italy a G7 country, parts of that country veer between the second and third worlds
Where’s a firing squad when you need one…
@Matty Kineven:
I hear there’s a slot open on LBC radio currently.
@Matty Kineven: a leave the Canadian one off he is intelligent and we wish the day we had someone like that here if only
@WilhelminaMCallaghan: You must be joking….
That’s a lovely Mediterranean Sea view in the second photo! How much does “The Journal” spend on stock photos? Why does every paragraph (sentence even) have to be illustrated with a graphic image? A photo of a human brain might assist us in reading the minds of the “journalists” on “The Journal”?
Whatever you think of Trump aside he has a point on here. German manufacture exporters have benefited massively from the Euro. The basket currency is very undervalued. If the Deutsche Mark was back tomorrow it would be at least twice as valuable as the Euro. German exports would become a lot more expensive and would greatly fall.
Why do you think the Germans are happy to plough billions into keeping the Euro going.
@John Fergus: That is true but if has also benefitted French, Spanish and Italian car manufacturers so it isn’t all about Germany is it. The fact is that Britain has priced themselves out of the market and has lost its competitive manufacturing edge dueto the greed of financial market traders.
drop the whole “climate change” shenanigans and instead fight pollution.. he cant debate out of that one
@iMoan Brutal: Good sentiment but I am afraid academic politics have already rigged the issue by literally destroying how planetary climate is defined or determined. The only avenue out of the mess is to expand climate to cover all planets in the solar system, discover the common traits which define climate instead of trying to squeeze climate into conditions of a common greenhouse and imagine humans have control of planetary temperatures via petrol pumps.
oh Jesus, you’ve set him off again!!!
Should have sent Bertie in his canary pants
What does the G7 ever achieve?
Except lovely dinners and a few days in a good hotel???
Waste of time.
That photo better not be too symbolic. Two EU flags cracking open the world order at the flanks.
Thor was the supreme commander of the asguard fleet.
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