Washington (AFP)
Should his best allies expect the worst again? Donald Trump could still play the spoilsport this weekend at the G7 summit in Biarritz, France, as the issues of contention multiply between the United States and other rich countries.
Heads of State and Government of the seven most industrialized countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom and United States) were used to a peaceful annual reunion with friends in what they call sometimes the "club of democracies" - especially since Russia's Vladimir Putin is no longer invited.
But that was before Donald Trump and his very personal interpretation of international relations.
After a report of disagreement in 2017 in Italy on global warming, the G7 in Quebec was last year the theater of unreleased ruptures. The president of the United States had turned upside down the ordinarily millimeter scenography of these great international raids, treated the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau "dishonest" against a backdrop of trade tensions, and refused to sign the joint declaration of the summit.
On the French Atlantic coast, he runs the risk of being like "the elephant in a porcelain shop," warns Robert Guttman of Johns Hopkins University. "Trump does not come as a statesman, but as a politician who fights to be re-elected" in November 2020 and only addresses "his base", he adds .
Its slogan, "America First", or "America first", may not fit well with the theme chosen by French President Emmanuel Macron for this G7, namely the fight against inequalities in the world.
Not to mention the climate, also on the agenda, but on which other member countries have taken note of the insurmountable gap that separates them from the Republican billionaire.
Moreover, everything has been done to prevent a "clash". A French diplomatic source insists on the informal side that Paris wants to give to the debates, abandoning any ambition of a comprehensive final communiqué.
- The "stupidity of Macron" -
Despite this, there are many subjects that can spark.
Starting with those who divide the host of the summit and the tenant of the White House, who liked to show their agreement in the beginning.
Donald Trump denounced at the end of July the "stupidity of Macron" about the French tax on the digital giants of the United States, and threatened in return to tackle a tricolor treasure, wine, via a rise in customs duties. The French president hopes to clear the conflict.
Emmanuel Macron also wishes to obtain a gesture of the American president on Iran.
If Mr. Trump wants a new agreement with Tehran as he says, summarizes a French diplomatic source, the pressure is not enough, it is necessary that the United States give a margin of maneuver to be able to offer something to the Iranians in exchange of a negotiation.
France is pleading for the US administration to pause its sanctions by accepting, for example, derogations allowing Tehran to export some of its oil.
But here too, French mediation attempts seem to have been showered in advance with a murderous tweet. "No one speaks for the United States except the United States themselves," warned Donald Trump, accusing his French counterpart of helping to blur the American message to Iran.
The ex-businessman could, finally, once again tagged German Chancellor Angela Merkel for Berlin's military spending deemed insufficient in NATO, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for his dispute with South Korea. South.
The US president should have at least one ally around the table in the person of the new British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who needs US support for the prospect of an exit without EU approval. The two men telephoned each other Monday to talk about Brexit and economy.
As for the others, they are nevertheless forced to cohabit with Donald Trump if they want to try to stand up to Russia and China in the strategic competition between powers.
The EU, in particular, "has not managed to become a superpower and still has to rely on the United States," said James Roberts of the Heritage Conservative Foundation. "They do not like President Trump's style, but they can not change the facts just because they do not like the messenger."
And the bubbling president will remain unavoidable for a while: he will host the G7 in 2020.
© 2019 AFP