The discord over the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine has even deeper roots. Trump promised to end it in a single day but, five months into his second term, has all but walked away from even trying. The blame belongs to Russian President Vladimir Putin (who once was the eighth summiteer in the group, until he was kicked out for annexing parts of Ukraine in 2014).
Putin shows no interest in good-faith negotiations and adroitly strings Trump along – the two just had another call, after which Trump even suggested (to Macron’s horror) that Putin might mediate the Israel-Iran showdown.
NOT QUITE DEJA VU
As Trump wavers in supporting Ukraine, the Europeans understand that they need to step up; they are urging much harsher sanctions against Russia. In that demand, they have backers in the US Congress, even among Republicans. But Trump, so far, has other instincts.
That’s hardly a secret to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who does not represent a G7 nation but is again on the guest list, along with leaders from the Global South such as South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa. Both men were recently humiliated by Trump in reality-TV-inspired ambushes at the White House – Trump in effect accused his South African guest of presiding over genocide against white Afrikaners.
The host, Canada’s Mark Carney, survived his own visit to the White House relatively unscathed but owes his election largely to his promise to Canadians to resist one of Trump’s most outlandish taunts: his repeated threat to annex Canada as America’s 51st state. Apropos outlandish threats: Macron none-too-subtly travelled to Canada via Greenland, to show support for that Danish territory, which Trump also covets.
