Home News Headlines Rubio could face an unfriendly reception from close G7 allies over Trump’s policies
News Headlines

Rubio could face an unfriendly reception from close G7 allies over Trump’s policies

Share
Share

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio may be walking into unusually unfriendly territory this week when he meets his counterparts from the Group of 7 industrialized democracies — strong American allies stunned by President Donald Trump’s actions against them.

Just hours after Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs kicked in — prompting responses from the European Union and Canada and threatening to ignite full-scale trade wars with close U.S. partners — Rubio arrived at the scenic Quebec town of La Malbaie on the St. Lawrence River for two days of talks with the top diplomats of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. All of them have been angered by the new American president’s policies.

Rubio will likely be hearing a litany of complaints about Trump’s decisions from once-friendly, like-minded countries in the G7 — notably host Canada, to which Trump has arguably been most antagonistic with persistent talk of it becoming the 51st U.S. state, additional tariffs and repeated insults against its leadership.

Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly, the official host who will see each participant separately, said that “in every single meeting, I will raise the issue of tariffs to coordinate a response with the Europeans and to put pressure on the Americans.”

“The only constant in this unjustifiable trade war seems to be President Trump’s talk of annexing our country through economic coercion,” Joly said Wednesday. “Yesterday, he called our border a fictional line and repeated his disrespectful 51st state rhetoric.”

Rubio downplayed Trump’s “51st state” comments, saying Wednesday that the president was only expressing what he thought would be a good idea.

The G7 grouping “is not a meeting about how we’re going to take over Canada,” Rubio said, noting that they would focus on Ukraine issues and other common topics.

Facing allies as tariffs take hold

On tariffs, Rubio said G7 partners should understand that these are a “policy decision” by Trump to protect American competitiveness.

“I think it is quite possible that we could do these things and at the same time deal in a constructive way with our allies and friends and partners on all the other issues that we work together on,” Rubio told reporters on a refueling stop in Ireland as he headed to Canada from talks with Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia. “And that’s what I expect out of the G7 and Canada.”

Asked if he expected a difficult reception from his counterparts, Rubio brushed the question aside: “I don’t know, should I be? I mean, they’ve invited us to come. We intend to go. The alternative is to not go. I think that would actually make things worse, not better.”

Rubio notably skipped a meeting of G20 foreign ministers — a bigger but less powerful group that includes developing nations — last month in South Africa because of his concerns that the agenda, which included climate change and diversity, did not align with Trump administration policies.

The agenda for the G7 meeting includes discussions on China and the Indo-Pacific; Ukraine and Europe; stability in the Americas; the Middle East; maritime security; Africa; and China, North Korea, Iran and Russia.

Discussing peace in Ukraine

Rubio and Trump’s national security adviser, Mike Waltz, had been in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, earlier in the week securing a potentially huge win for the administration — a possible ceasefire to end the Russia-Ukraine war, an issue that galvanized the G7 since even before the conflict began.

Armed with Ukraine’s acceptance of the proposal for a 30-day ceasefire but still awaiting a Russian response, Rubio can expect cautiously optimistic responses from his fellow diplomats.

Yet, Trump’s apparent desire to draw Russian President Vladimir Putin back into the fold — including saying he would like to see Russia rejoin the group to restore it to the G8 — continues to alarm G7 members. They united behind Ukraine, with large amounts of military assistance and punishing economic sanctions against Moscow, after the invasion began in February 2022.

Russia was thrown out of the G8 after it annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

Among international groupings, the G7 — whose members, with the exception of Japan, are all NATO allies — had been the toughest on Russia.

At the last G7 foreign ministers meeting before the 2022 invasion, members warned Russia in a joint statement in December 2021 of “massive consequences” should it attack Ukraine. Three months later, they coordinated to impose sweeping financial, travel and other sanctions on Moscow.

Since Trump’s election, that appears to be changing, at least from the U.S. side.

Rubio said his goal was not to antagonize Russia as it considers the ceasefire proposal “by issuing statements that are abrasive in any way.” He noted that all of the sanctions against Russia remain in place but that new threats of action could be counterproductive to getting Putin on board with the U.S. peace plan.

That throws into question hopes that the G7 can unify around a common statement condemning Russia.

Britain, along with France, has been spearheading efforts to set up a “coalition of the willing” to help safeguard a future ceasefire in Ukraine, including with troops on the ground. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer — who has said the plan will only work with U.S. security guarantees to back it up — plans to host a virtual meeting of about two dozen countries Saturday to discuss progress.

Rubio and other Trump administration officials have so far refused to endorse European peacekeepers.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said G7 unity has been critical in ensuring that “Putin to this day hasn’t achieved his war aims in Ukraine.”

“The way to peace goes via strength and unity — a language that Putin understands,” she said in a statement before the meeting.

___

Associated Press writers Rob Gillies in Toronto, Jill Lawless in London, and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.

Share

Leave a comment

Leave a Reply

Latest News

Related Articles
Boats

For Sale! 2016 Sea Ray 350 Sundancer – $180,000

Reel Deal Yacht is pleased to feature a meticulously maintained 2016 Sea...

Yachts

USA Moves Closer to Forfeiting Amadea and Potentially Auctioning Her Off

The Legal Battle Over the Superyacht Amadea: A Complex Case of Ownership...

Sports

Injuries to freshman star Cooper Flagg, Maliq Brown hit at inopportune time for No. 1 Duke

Cooper Flagg went airborne to snag a rebound in his first ACC...

Sports

Jones scores 28 as No. 25 Marquette rallies past Xavier 89-87 in Big East quarterfinal

Kam Jones scored 28 points to surpass 2,000 for his career and...

Sports

John Feinstein, bestselling author and one of the country’s foremost sports writers, dies at 69

John Feinstein, one of the country’s foremost sports writers and the author...

About Us

Founded by Francesca Perez in Miami in 2022, A BIT LAVISH is your go-to source for luxury living insights. Covering yachts, boats, real estate, health, and news, we bring you the best of Miami's vibrant lifestyle. Discover more with Miami's Magazine.

Newsletter

Sign up for our newsletter to get the latest updates and articles directly to your inbox.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.

Copyright © 2024 ABIT LAVISH. Miami's Magazine Est. 2022, All rights reserved.

Legal Notice: At A Bit Lavish, we pride ourselves on maintaining high standards of originality and respect for intellectual property. We encourage our audience to uphold these values by refraining from unauthorized copying or reproduction of any content, logo, or branding material from our website. Each piece of content, image, and design is created with care and protected under copyright law. Please enjoy and share responsibly to help us maintain the integrity of our brand. For inquiries on usage or collaborations, feel free to reach out to us +1 305.332.1942.

Translate »