It is increasingly looking like US President Donald Trump would be isolated at the upcoming G7 (Group of Seven Developed countries) in Quebec, Canada. Already the barrage of tweets between Trump and the nonstop spats with the French President, Emmanuel Macron, and the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, have resulted in a vitiated atmosphere ahead of the summit.
The differences between Trump and his fellow leaders are over the ongoing trade wars and the climate change issues. His intentions might be to Make America Great Again or America First, but President Trump cannot risk damaging the standing of the United States in the Global Arena and his nonchalant attitude would only make matters worse in the coming days.
Indeed, it would not be an understatement to say that Trump is distancing the United States from its traditional Trans Atlantic allies and the partnerships forged in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War and which have stood the test of time have brought many economic benefits to all of them.
While the trade wars might benefit the United States in the shorter term, his cavalier approach to climate change is certainly something that does not augur well for the longer term prosperity of the world.
Having said that, it might also be a case that President Trump does feel that the United States is losing economically from its trade alliances and hence, this is the time to redefine the contours of the global trade agreements.
This line of thinking has found resonance with many who have supported him and his positions on major issues that affect the world. Moreover, Trump, with his Art of the Deal approaches to economic and geopolitical issues takes a transactional approach that prefers an I Win, You Lose model of negotiation.
Thus, all these factors indicate an isolated President Trump at the G7 Summit and it remains to be seen whether any worthwhile outcomes ensue from this meeting. Watch this space for more developments as the summit gets underway in the midst of the heated build up to the meet.
