A quiet Trump at the G7, but whose disruptive side is never far

(Biarritz) As Superman under the skinned appearance of Clark Kent, Donald Trump presented at the G7 summit his calmest face. But the disruptive president whom the world expected to see did not fail to manifest himself several times.

Sebastian SMITH
France Media Agency

Before the summit in Biarritz, southwest France, chancelleries and media were wondering how the American leader would blow up the event.

This is what he did last year in Canada during the previous edition of the G7, where he had withdrew his signature of the final communiqué and had launched into a furious controversy over the trade with Canada. host of the summit, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

This time, Donald Trump took everyone on the wrong foot.

Pause

In Biarritz, the President of the United States has put aside his commercial war threats with his Western G7 allies. And he announced to everyone's surprise a pause in his strategy of pressure on Iran, even accepting the principle of meeting with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rohani "if the circumstances are right".

Donald Trump has also made a visible effort not to be the isolated and moody figure he had been at international events similar to that of Biarritz.

He was radiant during all the photo shoots on the Basque coast, admiring the architecture and praising the organization. "Nobody wanted to leave," he said.

"A great leader"

So an argument with the host of the meeting, as in Canada? Far from there. Mr. Trump has not stopped praising Emmanuel Macron. "You have been a great leader," he told the French president at their joint press conference at the end of the summit.

It is an impromptu lunch – secret weapon of French diplomacy – that seems to have led the former New York estate mogul to show the most welcoming side of his personality. "It was just the two of us: no collaborators, nothing," said Donald Trump, noting that he enjoyed the unplanned tete-a-tete.

Monday, MM. Trump and Macron said goodbye with a warm handshake followed by a hug, and the two men held hands for a long time before another hug.

But then…

So where was the thundering Donald Trump, the one who likes to shock, disturb, disorient the world? Not far away.

Admittedly, Mr. Macron's risky attempt to bring Mr. Trump closer to Iran was greeted by the complainant with a calm tone of approval. But the US president has been unpredictable as usual on almost every other subject.

On Monday morning, Trump made a seemingly loud announcement when he announced that China had told his team in phone calls that it wanted to return to the bilateral trade table.

However, the question then arose as to which Chinese official made these calls. Mr. Trump then let loose that most of his optimism came from a newsletter where Deputy Prime Minister Liu He called for calm.

Confusion had also prevailed the day before when Trump said he regretted the escalating escalation of his trade war against China. Shortly thereafter, his spokesman said he had no regrets – other than "not raising the tariff any further".

"The world of missiles"

Trump has also downplayed, as usual, the importance of North Korea's recent repeated missile tests, launches that are worrying South Korea and Japan, allies of the United States.

"It does not please me, but, I repeat, it is not in violation of the agreement," said Trump. He was referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who according to local media personally supervised several of these tests, including Saturday that of a "large-scale multiple missile launcher".

Mr. Trump was speaking at a meeting where he was sitting next to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who contradicted him. "The launch clearly violates the relevant Security Council resolutions," said Abe.

Donald Trump's response was quick: "We're in the world of missiles, guys, whether you like it or not."

"FAKE NEWS! "

In addition, Trump denied "ridiculous" information from the US site Axios that he had several times suggested the use of nuclear bombs to neutralize hurricanes. "Just one more FAKE NEWS! He tweeted.

But when he treated the threat of global warming as fictional, he again isolated himself from his G7 partners.

Mr. Trump missed the climate working session. His spokesman said he was too busy to go.

Invite Putin? " Certainly "

And the president of the United States has again distinguished his peers by announcing that he could very well invite Vladimir Putin when he will host the next G7 in 2020.

The Russian president was expelled from the group in 2014 after joining Crimea to Russia. But for Mr. Trump, his coming would not be a problem. "I could certainly invite him," he said.