8:15 a.m. ET May 26, 2017 TAORMINA, Italy — President Trump urged world leaders to do more to fight terrorism and make changes in their trade policies during a high-profile summit Friday, while members of the Group of Seven tried to talk Trump into staying in a global agreement designed to address climate change.
During a day-long series of meetings among the world's most industrialized nations, juggling thorny foreign policy challenges such as North Korea, Russia, and Syria's civil war, Trump made time to protest what he called unfair practices by other countries, including Germany.
National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn said Trump told fellow G-7 leaders he wants "reciprocal" trade relationships, which means: "You treat us the way we treat you, or we'll treat you the way you treat us."
White House aides also sought to walk back comments Trump made about Germany during a Wednesday meeting with European Union officials in Brussels. The president described the Germans — also members of the G-7 — as "bad, very bad" on trade policy, especially with regard to car imports, which he promised to curtail.
"He said they're very bad on trade, but he doesn't have a problem with Germany," Cohn said, adding that the president and his team "have a problem with German trade."
German papers such as Der Spiegel reported that Trump told European leadership, "Look at the millions of cars they’re selling in the U.S. Terrible. We will stop this." This appears to ignore the fact that the U.S. can't negotiate a deal with Germany alone; it has to deal with the entire EU, since Germany is a member state, which Chancellor Angela Merkel reminded Trump of when they met in March.
G-7 summits are designed to let world leaders discuss mutual problems while in relaxed settings — in this case, the coast of the island of Sicily. A welcoming ceremony took place at the ancient Greek Theater on a hilltop high above the sea. In the distance looms Mount Etna, an active volcano. The festivities included a flyover featuring jets leaving behind large plumes of smoke in white, red, and green – the colors of the Italian flag.
A series of afternoon meetings among G-7 leaders – representing Germany, Japan, Italy, Canada, France, and the United Kingdom, as well as the United States – were closed to the press.
After the entire day of meetings, the Trump administration made only one specific announcement: It has no plans to reduce economic sanctions on Russia over its military aggressiveness in Ukraine. "We’re not lowering our sanctions on Russia," Cohn said. "If anything we would probably look to get tougher on Russia."
Trump traveled on his foreign trip amid headaches over Russia, a former G-7 member.
Last week, the Justice Department announced it had named a special counsel to investigate possible links between Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and Russians who tried to undermine the election by hacking Democrats. Trump and aides have denied any collusion, and described the investigation as a "witch hunt."
Russia used to be a member of the G-7 club, back when it was called the G-8. But it was expelled in 2014 over its annexation of the Crimea region of Ukraine, and its continuing military activities in that country are likely to be a topic of discussion at the weekend's summit. Some G-7 members have also accused Russia of trying to disrupt elections in their countries, including Germany, France, and the United Kingdom.
Kicking off the summit in this seaside Sicilian village, Trump also met one-on-one with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe about another topic of global concern: The threat posed by North Korea's nuclear weapons.
The U.S. and Japanese leaders agreed to work with South Korea and other countries to "enhance sanctions" on North Korea by focusing on entities that support its ballistic missile and nuclear programs. "It's a big problem, it's a world problem," Trump said. "It will be solved at some point. It will be solved."
National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster also said Trump put an emphasis on terrorism in the wake of this week's attacks on children in Manchester, England, and Minia, Egypt. He urged global colleagues to contribute to a coalition designed to move out the Islamic State from areas it now occupies and to cut off financing for all kinds of terrorist groups.
Trump also meets with world leaders in the wake of a campaign and an early presidency in which he has criticized many other countries, claiming they engage in unfair trade practices and pass the buck for defense spending onto the United States.
Other countries, meanwhile, have criticized the Trump administration for threatening to withdraw or pull back from various international agreements, from multi-lateral trade deals to the climate change pact negotiated in Paris in 2015.
The Paris agreement, which requires countries to reduce heat-trapping carbon emissions, is a major topic this weekend, as G-7 leaders lobbied Trump to stay within the framework.
Some Trump aides say the agreement places unfair restrictions on the U.S. energy industry, and the president is expected to make a decision in the coming weeks.
Cohn said Trump spent Friday learning as much as he can about the climate change issue from his G-7 partners, but would make his final decision on Paris based on what is best for the United States.
Cohn said Trump's views on climate change are "evolving," and "he came here to learn – he came here to get smarter."
The annual G-7 summit also caps Trump's first foreign trip as president that also included Middle East peace talks in Saudi Arabia and Israel and an audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican.
The summit opened a day after tense meetings between Trump and members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Brussels. Trump demanded that NATO members spend more on their own defense, while declining to explicitly endorse the section of the NATO charter that requires member countries to treat an attack on one as an attack on all.
Trump is scheduled to return to Washington, D.C., on Saturday, the last day of the summit.
