Our live coverage has ended. Scroll through the posts below to see how the day unfolded.
President Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau just sat down for their bilateral meeting, on the heels of tense words between the two leaders as a result of trade.
Trump floated the idea that NAFTA could be a one-on-one country agreement.
“Could be with Canada, with Mexico, one-on-one much simpler agreement. Much easier to do. I think better for both countries but we’re talking about that among other things,” Trump said.
Trump said there was “a lot of progress today” on trade and added that their relationship “is probably better than it’s ever been.” Trudeau did not remark on that comment.
Trump began his remarks joking, “Justin has agreed to cut all tariffs and trade barriers between Canada and the United States,” to laughter in the room.
This meeting could have been awkward. Trump is expecting a drag-down fight with top US allies — including Canada — over trade.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel says the European Union countries agree Russia should not return to the G7.
“We agree that a return by Russia to the G7 format cannot happen as long as there isn’t any substantial progress in regard to the problems with Ukraine. That was the common view,” Merkel said at a press conference Friday,
Canada also agreed that Russia should not return.
“There are no grounds whatsoever for bringing Russia, with its current behavior, back into the G7,” Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland told reports on Friday.
Russia was suspended from the group in 2014 after the majority of member countries allied against Russia’s annexation of Crimea, which Russia continues to hold.
President Trump this morning told reporters that Russia should be reinstated.
Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer met Friday on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Quebec to discuss NAFTA negotiations, the Canadian Foreign Ministry confirmed.
Freeland and Lighthizer also discussed the steel and aluminum tariffs imposed last week on Canadian goods by the Trump administration. Freeland said on Sunday that Canada was ‘hurt’ and ‘insulted’ by the tariffs.
At a press conference Friday afternoon, Freeland said that senior officials were drafting a final G7 communiqué — a traditional summit joint statement — but that the work was difficult. (Ahead of the summit, the wide disagreements between President Trump and US allies led to questions about whether the assembled leaders would produce the communiqué.)
The UK delegation attempted to set up a bilateral meeting between President Trump and Prime Minister May but a person familiar with the discussions said the UK delegation “never really got a clear response, and concluded she would catch him when they were hanging around between sessions.”
Instead the source said the two leaders are expected to briefly chat in a “brush past.”
The Brits do not seem angered by this, the source said, because there is the upcoming NATO summit and President Trump’s visit to England this summer.
A National Security Council official tells reporters in Quebec that President Trump’s comments this morning suggesting that Russia should be allowed to rejoin the G7 were not planned.
When asked about whether there was a potential for a summit between Russian President Putin and President Trump, the official said there have been no discussions in terms of when, where or what that summit might look like.
Russia was suspended from the group in 2014 after the majority of member countries allied against Russia’s annexation of Crimea, which Russia continues to hold.
But then Trump said this:
The world leaders at G7 are having a working session this afternoon.
President Trump took his seat between Chancellor Merkel and Prime Minister Trudeau at a circular table situated in a sunny room with windows overlooking the river.
Trudeau explained the pens at each leaders’ seat were made by a local craftsman.
Reporters and photographers were allowed in the room briefly. At one point Trump pointed out Doug Mills — calling him the “number one photographer in the world” — but said with chagrin that he works for the New York Times.
President Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron have already met once at this G7 Summit — and they’ll meet at least once more, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said.
“President Trump and President Macron had a brief pull aside earlier today. They exchanged pleasantries and briefly discussed trade. We expect an additional meeting to take place this afternoon,” Sanders said.
A Trump-Macron bilateral meeting scheduled for this morning was called off as President Trump arrived in Quebec later than expected.
Republican Sen. John McCain and former Vice President Joe Biden both blasted President Trump’s suggestion that Russia should be re-admitted to the G7 on Friday.
McCain said: “Vladimir Putin chose to make Russia unworthy of membership in the G-8 by invading Ukraine and annexing Crimea. Nothing he has done since then has changed that most obvious fact…The President has inexplicably shown our adversaries the deference and esteem that should be reserved for our closest allies.”
Biden said: “Putin’s Russia invaded its neighbors, violated our sovereignty by undermining elections, and attacks dissidents abroad. Yet our President wants to reward him with a seat at the table while alienating our closest democratic allies. It makes no sense.
Why Russia was booted: Russia’s membership in the influential group was suspended in 2014 after a majority of countries allied against Russia’s annexation of Crimea, which Russia continues to hold.
President Trump this morning told reporters Russia should be allowed back into the group:
World leaders have gathered at the Fairmont Le Manoir Richelieu hotel in Charlevoix, Quebec, for the G7 summit. Now, they’re taking their annual class photo.
Trump walked out while speaking with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.
He stood between German Chancellor Merkel and Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau with the river as a backdrop, smiling widely.
French President Emmanuel Macron just shared a short video of himself speaking with President Trump at the G7 Summit in Canada.
There’s no audio in the video, so we’re not sure what they’re talking about. But Macron said this in the tweet:
The two leaders’ relationship got a little tense in the days leading up to this summit. Trump and Macron recently had a phone call that focused on trade and immigration — sources said it was “bad” and “terrible.”
And yesterday, the two men exchanged feisty tweets.
Macron said: “The American President may not mind being isolated, but neither do we mind signing a 6 country agreement if need be. Because these 6 countries represent values, they represent an economic market which has the weight of history behind it and which is now a true international force.”
And Trump said: Please tell Prime Minister Trudeau and President Macron that they are charging the U.S. massive tariffs and create non-monetary barriers. The EU trade surplus with the U.S. is $151 Billion, and Canada keeps our farmers and others out. Look forward to seeing them tomorrow.”
Though their bilaterial meeting is delayed until later today, President Trump briefly greeted French President Macron and the French first lady a short time ago. They met briefly on a terrace at the summit site before the official welcome.
Trump was expected to meet with his French counterpart when he arrived at the Group of Seven summit in Quebec.
The White House told reporters they are working to reschedule the meeting for potentially later Friday. Trump left Washington nearly an hour later than scheduled, delaying the anticipated meeting.
British Prime Minister Theresa May, on her way to the G7 summit, told reporters that Trump’s tariffs on Europe are “unjustified” and promised that the European Union would be responding.
“I made my views clear on the steel and aluminum tariffs that President Trump has announced, I have done that directly to him,” she said. “We disagree with these, we think they’re unjustified … Obviously the European Union will be responding.”
President Trump last month announced he was imposing steep tariffs on steel and aluminum from three of America’s biggest trading partners — Canada, Mexico and the European Union.
May added: “As the UK, we want to be a great champion of free trade around the world and that’s what we will continue to be.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau just greeted President Trump at the Fairmont Le Manoir Richelieu hotel in Charlevoix, Quebec, for the G7 Summit. The two leaders are expected to meet later today on the sidelines.
It could be an awkward meeting, though: The two leaders had a testy phone call at the end of May in which Trump inaccurately accused Canada of burning down the White House in the War of 1812 (it was actually the Brits).
President Trump’s Marine One helicopter has arrived to the Charlevoix landing zone. If the President was looking out his window on the ride from the air base, he would have seen rolling hills covered in pine forest beneath him.
President Trump was supposed to have a bilateral meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron this morning — but the White House says the meeting is no longer happening, and officials say they are working to reschedule it.
President Trump was supposed to have a bilateral meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron this morning. Both leaders are attending the G7 Summit in Canada.
But the White House says the meeting is no longer happening this morning. Officials say they are working to reschedule the meeting for potentially later today.
President Trump left Washington almost an hour late this morning, delaying the anticipated meeting.
President Trump will leave the G7 early on Saturday, skipping the last several sessions as he heads on Singapore for the historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the White House said.
Trump is leaving on 10:30 am. ET following a session on women’s empowerment, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said.
The President will be missing sessions on climate change, clean energy and oceans.
The wide disagreements between President Trump and US allies have led to questions about whether the assembled leaders will produce the traditional “communiqué” that typically emerge from G7 summits.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, predicting difficult discussions, has argued the leaders should not force a joint statement that waters down what the group has agreed to in the past.
And Macron has insisted that any communiqué mention the Paris climate accord that Trump ditched last year.
Air Force One just landed in Quebec, Canada, where President Trump will attend the G7 Summit.
Trump is planning to meet with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and French President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the talks, which will be held at a golf resort in rustic Charlevoix.
President Trump will be sitting down with US allies today for bilateral meetings.
The meetings could get a bit uncomfortable considering the recent phone calls Trump has had with some of them.
Here’s why:
