The meetings of the Group of Seven, or G-7, are designed so the leaders of the world’s most powerful economies can have rational discussions, both with, and without, the standard photo-ops.
Which is why Donald Trump, host Justin Trudeau, Theresa May, Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel, Shinzo Abe, and Giuseppe Conte (the newbie from Italy), are in Charlevoix, in Québec, at the elegant Fairmont Le Manoir Richelieu, perched on a bluff high above the St. Lawrence River,
Trump loves nothing better than creating chaos, and his bromance with Vladimir Putin has taken yet another turn.
Just before he left the White House for the G-7 meeting, Trump, in a very unsubtle way, whined that Russia should have been included.
There used to be a G-8, but that stopped when Russia grabbed Crimea and continued actively supporting the dismemberment of the rest of Ukraine.
Now it’s the G-6 plus Trump.
But Trump has already left that meeting, definitely on the early side, to get ready for his photo-op with Kim Jong-un in Singapore.
As associate solitary reporters Larry Theis and Edmonton Mayor Gary Zeman have just informed us, two hours before his scheduled departure for Singapore, Trump welcomed Putin. Trump gave Fox News the exclusive right to cover the welcome.
Then, accompanied by their security details, Trump and Putin barged into Trudeau's suite.
Trudeau exchanged some words with Trump and Putin which cannot be printed here.
Not skipping a beat, Trudeau, when he convened today’s meeting, quickly obtained consensus from May, Macron, Merkel, Abe, and Conte, that Putin be unceremoniously invited to leave so he can accompany Trump to Singapore.
Putin immediately agreed.
Theis, who is fluent in Russian, asked Putin why he decided to accompany Trump.
“Larry,” Putin said, wasting no words, “Trump thinks he’s a master negotiator, but he doesn’t know the first thing about it if it doesn’t involve browbeating other developers in Manhattan.”
“Just look at my record in getting things done — I invaded Crimea, and sure, people outside my empire complained, but they had no choice. And I’m still there, and I just go re-elected; all I had to do was to rig my re-election. Basic stuff, Larry.”
As they returned to the meeting inside the Fairmont Le Manoir Richelieu, Theis and Zeman immediately noticed that Trudeau, May, Macron, Merkel, Abe, and Conte were all in a bright, festive mood, enjoying each others’ company, now that the Disrupters-in-Chief had left.
And, as Putin and Trump prepared to board a specially equipped helicopter to begin their journey, Trump told the few remaining observers, “Just you wait! I’m gonna sweet-talk Kim Jong-un into how beautifully I’m gonna help him develop his impoverished nation, and he’ll totally go for it, and very soon, believe me, he’s gonna have resorts and casinos, you know, the things his people have been craving all these years, and in just a year or two, Kim will be meeting with the G-7, and President Moon of South Korea will be in the meeting too."