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Trump criticizes Justin Trudeau, says US won’t endorse G7 statement

Posted at 6:34 PM, Jun 09, 2018
and last updated 2018-06-09 20:34:33-04

By Clare Foran, CNN

President Donald Trump on Saturday accused Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of making “false statements” and said that the US will not endorse a G7 communique.

“Based on Justin’s false statements at his news conference, and the fact that Canada is charging massive Tariffs to our U.S. farmers, workers and companies, I have instructed our U.S. Reps not to endorse the Communique as we look at Tariffs on automobiles flooding the U.S. Market!,” the President tweeted on Saturday.

In a second tweet, President Trump said, “PM Justin Trudeau of Canada acted so meek and mild during our @G7 meetings only to give a news conference after I left saying that, ‘US Tariffs were kind of insulting’ and he ‘will not be pushed around.’ Very dishonest & weak. Our Tariffs are in response to his of 270% on dairy!”

The President’s move to reject the communique contradicted a statement from Trudeau earlier on Saturday when the Canadian prime minister said that he was “happy to announce that we have released a joint communique by all seven countries” indicating that the US had signed on. The group of seven nations that make up the G7 are Canada, France, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan and Italy.

Trump’s tweets taking aim at the leader of a country that has long been a US ally came after the President left the G7 summit in Canada to travel to Singapore ahead of a planned diplomatic meeting with North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un.

Trudeau said Saturday during a news conference that Canada will “move forward with retaliatory measures” on July 1 in response to the Trump administration’s decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada, the European Union and Mexico.

“I have made it very clear to the President that it is not something we relish doing, but it something that we absolutely will do,” Trudeau said. “Canadians, we’re polite, we’re reasonable, but we also will not be pushed around.”

Trump addressed the subject of international trade during an impromptu news conference at the summit on Saturday, saying that he does not want to see other countries take advantage of the US over trade.

“It’s going to change,” he said. “Tariffs will come way down. We’re like the piggy bank that everybody is robbing and that ends.”

He added, “if they retaliate, they’re making a mistake. We have a tremendous trade imbalance.”