Donald Trump told Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe he could ship 25 million Mexicans to his country and make him lose an election — one of several odd statements he made at last week’s acrimonious G7 meet, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
The Group of Seven summit gathering of top industrialized democracies finished in disarray after the US president abruptly rejected its joint statement and bitterly attacked Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Behind the scenes, Trump’s counterparts were dismayed by his verbal jabs on topics ranging from trade to terrorism and migration, the WSJ said, quoting European officials who were present.
At one point, he described migration as a big problem for Europe and said to Abe: “Shinzo, you don’t have this problem, but I can send you 25 million Mexicans and you’ll be out of office very soon,” creating a sense of irritation in the room, according to an EU official.
The source added that when the topic turned to Iran and terrorism, Trump took aim at French President Emmanuel Macron, saying: “You must know about this, Emmanuel, because all the terrorists are in Paris.”
On Saturday, Macron’s office denied the report, saying: “It’s all untrue.”
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker also came under fire and was repeatedly described by Trump as a “brutal killer” in reference to the bloc’s antitrust and tax fines against US tech companies that have run into billions of dollars.
Bitter differences over trade dominated the summit hosted by Canada, with leaders lining up against Trump’s threats to impose stiff tariffs on imported steel and aluminum.
After rejecting the joint statement, Trump and his top aides assailed Trudeau, accusing him of dishonesty and betrayal.
Trump on Friday rejected reports of discord, blaming the “Fake News Media” on Twitter for portraying his G7 participation as negative while posting several photos of himself appearing to get along well with his fellow leaders.
