President Trump said Saturday that he will postpone until at least September the annual Group of Seven meeting of world leaders, which he had wanted to hold in-person by the end of June at the White House as the administration tries to project a return to normalcy amid the coronavirus pandemic.
But German Chancellor Angela Merkel had declined Trump’s invitation to come to Washington for the meeting, citing concerns about the pandemic, which has killed more than 100,000 Americans and more than 365,000 worldwide.
Trump also said he plans to invite Russia, South Korea, Australia and India — all already part of the Group of 20, which was conceived as a larger and more inclusive gathering than the G-7, with its clubby reputation.
“I don’t feel that as a G-7 it properly represents what’s going on in the world,” Trump said. “It’s a very outdated group of countries.”
Russia had been invited to attend the sessions for several years until 2014, when Moscow was disinvited over its invasion of Crimea. Trump has repeatedly said he wanted to include Russia again, which Merkel and others vigorously opposed.
Since the other six members of the G-7 are opposed to Russia’s rejoining, it is not clear whether they would attend a meeting where Trump forced the issue. Trump said he has “roughly” broached the idea with leaders of Russia, South Korea, Australia and India.