{"id":89309,"date":"2026-06-15T17:00:33","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T17:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/89309\/"},"modified":"2026-06-15T17:00:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T17:00:33","slug":"trumps-past-jabs-at-g7-leaders-make-for-an-awkward-summit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/89309\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump’s past jabs at G7 leaders make for an awkward summit"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 President Donald Trump<\/a> is heading to France on Monday to meet with an ideologically diverse group of world leaders who have at least one thing in common: All have either found themselves the target of Trump\u2019s ire, or have been forced to negotiate awkward moments with the U.S. leader.<\/p>\n

Several of the G7 leaders<\/a> have faced Trump\u2019s wrath for questioning his war of choice with Iran. Trump has beefed with some over tariffs.<\/a> And the leaders of Japan and Germany have endured sitting through clumsy asides by Trump about dark moments in their countries\u2019 histories.<\/p>\n

During three days of talks in the bucolic French Alps, the leaders are expected to discuss the newly minted agreement<\/a> aimed at ending the Iran war,<\/a> Chinese trade policy, and Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine<\/a>. It\u2019s also a chance to take measure of their relationship with Trump at a moment when the U.S. leader seems more determined than ever to go it alone on matters of global consequence.<\/p>\n

The dynamics of the summit are not unlike a family holiday gathering where \u201cthere\u2019s an uncle you don\u2019t quite like,\u201d said Max Bergmann, an analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd no one wants to have a confrontation, even if things get quite passive-aggressive at times,\u201d Bergmann said. \u201cBut, you know, there\u2019s always the possibility that things might snap, and it might get rather dramatic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a look at some of the notable moments of public friction and uncomfortable exchanges between Trump and his fellow G7 leaders.<\/p>\n

Starmer is no Churchill in Trump\u2019s eyes<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s criticism of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer<\/a> has focused on the United Kingdom\u2019s reluctance to assist U.S. military strikes on Iran, British immigration policies, and the country\u2019s renewable energy strategies.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"U.S.<\/p>\n

U.S. President Donald Trump, left, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer look at each other as they shake hands during a press conference at Chequers near Aylesbury, England, Sept. 18, 2025. Leon Neal\/Pool Photo via AP, File)<\/p>\n

U.S. President Donald Trump, left, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer look at each other as they shake hands during a press conference at Chequers near Aylesbury, England, Sept. 18, 2025. Leon Neal\/Pool Photo via AP, File)<\/p>\n

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But his most cutting jab at Starmer came after the Labour Party leader initially declined to allow U.S. military jets to use a British base<\/a> in the Indian Ocean for the bombardment of Iran. \u201cThis is not Winston Churchill that we\u2019re dealing with,\u201d<\/a> Trump said of Starmer, comparing him unfavorably to Britain\u2019s revered World War II-era prime minister.<\/p>\n

Trump in the first days of the Iran war tore into the prime minister<\/a> after the U.K. placed the aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales on advanced readiness status to potentially deploy to the Middle East.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t need people that join Wars after we\u2019ve already won!\u201d Trump said on social media.<\/p>\n

The prime minister who Trump likes to call governor<\/p>\n

Trump has fumed about trade imbalances<\/a> with Canada, frequently opines about annexing Canada and making it the \u201c51st state,\u201d<\/a> and has taken to referring to Prime Minister Mark Carney<\/a> as \u201cgovernor.\u201d<\/p>\n

His sharpest rhetoric toward the leader of America\u2019s northern neighbor came after Carney at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, condemned coercion<\/a> by great powers on smaller countries without mentioning Trump\u2019s name.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"President<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney meet in the Oval Office of the White House, Oct. 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Evan Vucci, File)<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney meet in the Oval Office of the White House, Oct. 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Evan Vucci, File)<\/p>\n

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\u201cCanada lives because of the United States,\u201d<\/a> Trump said in his own remarks at Davos. \u201cRemember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carney has tried to remain even-keeled<\/a> over Trump\u2019s jabs. The prime minister told reporters earlier this month that Trump was an \u201cexceptionally active user of social media\u201d and that he was not going to respond to everything he posts.<\/p>\n

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Trump mocks Macron\u2019s marriage and questions France\u2019s reliability<\/p>\n

During an Easter lunch at the White House in April, Trump criticized France and other NATO countries\u2019 resistance<\/a> to assisting the U.S.-Israel war against Iran.<\/p>\n

In the midst of the aside, Trump referred to viral video footage<\/a> from last year which captured Macron\u2019s wife, Brigitte<\/a>, appearing to push the French president\u2019s face away as they were getting off a plane during a visit to Vietnam.<\/p>\n

Trump told the audience that Brigitte treats Macron \u201cextremely badly\u201d and said that the French president was \u201cstill recovering from the right to the jaw.\u201d<\/p>\n

Macron afterward told reporters that the couple had been simply joking around and said Trump\u2019s comments were \u201cneither elegant nor appropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump regularly regales audiences with his prowess as a dealmaker by recounting conversations he\u2019s had with Macron about trade irritants, mimicking Macron\u2019s responses in an exaggerated accent<\/a>. In Trump\u2019s retelling, Macron always quickly capitulates.<\/p>\n

The conservative premier who Trump suggests lacks courage<\/p>\n

Until recently, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni<\/a> had been held in high regard by Trump.<\/a><\/p>\n

In October, Trump was effusive in his praise of the conservative premier<\/a> when world leaders gathered in Egypt<\/a> for a summit to discuss post-war Gaza, calling her \u201ca very successful, very successful politician\u201d and \u201cbeautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"President<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump, center, greets Italy\u2019s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, right, upon her arrival at the White House, April 17, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Tom Brenner, File)<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump, center, greets Italy\u2019s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, right, upon her arrival at the White House, April 17, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Tom Brenner, File)<\/p>\n

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But Trump has since changed his tune<\/a> as Italy declined to assist the United States in the war against Iran and after the premier chastised Trump for feuding with Pope Leo XIV about the conflict.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo people like her? I can\u2019t believe it,\u201d Trump said of Meloni, to Milan newspaper Corriere della Sera. He added: \u201cI thought she had courage. I was wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

An awkward historical reference in the Oval Office<\/p>\n

Trump hasn\u2019t offered any direct criticism of Japan\u2019s Sanae Takaichi<\/a> since she took office in October.<\/p>\n

But some of his commentary during Takaichi\u2019s first White House visit<\/a> left the prime minister in an awkward position.<\/p>\n

When asked by a Japanese reporter why he didn\u2019t tell allies in Europe and Asia before the U.S. attacked Iran, Trump casually invoked Pearl Harbor to defend his decision.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Japanese<\/p>\n

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi gestures as U.S. President Donald Trump delivers his speech during their visit to the aircraft carrier USS George Washington at the U.S. Navy\u2019s Yokosuka base in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, Oct. 28, 2025. (AP Photo\/Eugene Hoshiko, File)<\/p>\n

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi gestures as U.S. President Donald Trump delivers his speech during their visit to the aircraft carrier USS George Washington at the U.S. Navy\u2019s Yokosuka base in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, Oct. 28, 2025. (AP Photo\/Eugene Hoshiko, File)<\/p>\n

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\u201cWho knows better about surprise than Japan?\u201d Trump said with Takaichi by his side. \u201cWhy didn\u2019t you tell me about Pearl Harbor, OK?\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s remark surprised many people in Japan, who had grown accustomed to American presidents avoiding harsh discussion of Japan\u2019s surprise strike on the U.S. Pacific Fleet in Hawaii that pushed the U.S. into World War II. His predecessors have instead focused on deepening ties with Japan, which became an ally after the war.<\/p>\n

Takaichi, a hard-line conservative, received a mix of praise and criticism<\/a> at home for not reacting to the comments by Trump, letting them pass with a glance at her ministers seated nearby.<\/p>\n

Chancellor\u2019s Iran war criticism infuriated Trump<\/p>\n

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz<\/a> set off Trump in April when he posited the U.S. was \u201cbeing humiliated\u201d<\/a> by Iran and criticized the U.S. for going into the war without any strategy, saying that also made it harder to end the conflict.<\/p>\n

Trump hit back on social media the following day, saying Merz \u201cshould spend more time on ending the war with Russia\/Ukraine\u201d<\/a> and \u201cfixing his broken Country, especially Immigration and Energy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Days later, the Pentagon announced it would pull some 5,000 U.S. troops out of Germany and Trump hinted he\u2019d look to cut the U.S. military presence \u201ca lot further.\u201d <\/a><\/p>\n

Trump also had an awkward exchange with Merz<\/a> when the chancellor visited the White House last year on the eve of the solemn anniversary of D-Day, the start of Allied operations which led to the liberation of Western Europe, the defeat of Nazi Germany and end of World War II.<\/p>\n

Merz noted the anniversary while making the case that the U.S. was once again in a position to help end a conflict with enormous stakes for Europe \u2014 Russia\u2019s war against Ukraine \u2014 when Trump interjected that D-Day was \u201cnot a pleasant day for you.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

The chancellor reminded Trump that the day also marked the beginning of \u201cthe liberation of my country from Nazi dictatorship.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump acknowledged that Merz had a point.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Associated Press writer John Leicester in Paris contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 President Donald Trump is heading to France on Monday to meet with an ideologically diverse…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":89310,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[98],"tags":[820,337,596,162,2105,14337,31388,592,33893,200,3242,34045,1873,111,33892,12396,113,2000,34044,26940,403,24555,594,5996,218],"class_list":["post-89309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mark-carney","tag-asia-pacific","tag-china","tag-diplomacy","tag-donald-trump","tag-france","tag-friedrich-merz","tag-g7-summit","tag-general-news","tag-giorgia-meloni","tag-iran","tag-iran-war","tag-italy-government","tag-keir-starmer","tag-mark-carney","tag-max-bergmann","tag-military-and-defense","tag-politics","tag-pope-leo-xiv","tag-russia-ukraine-war","tag-sanae-takaichi","tag-united-kingdom","tag-united-kingdom-government","tag-united-states-government","tag-washington-news","tag-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89309"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89309\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}