During the G7 in Biarritz, the US president, Donald Trump promised the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson the creation of a “major trade agreement”.
US President Donald Trump showed his full support on Sunday at the G7 summit to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in the showdown between the Europeans over the Brexit, promising him a “big deal” as soon as London leaves the EU.
“It’s the right man to do the job,” he said in his long-awaited interview with Boris Johnson over breakfast on the second day of the Border Summit. from the Atlantic to Biarritz (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) .
The two countries will conclude a “very large trade agreement, soon, bigger than ever before” after the Brexit, also assured the tenant of the White House.
Trump and the “lying media”
With a warm hug to his American counterpart, Boris Johnson also said that the two countries will conclude a “fantastic trade agreement once the obstacles are removed.”
Donald Trump, called upon his arrival on Saturday by his counterparts on his trade war with China and his threats to tax more French wine, has also swept any bad note in those early hours of the summit.
“Before I came to France, the deceptive media said that relations with the other six G7 countries were very tense and that the summit would be a disaster,” he tweeted just before his meeting with Boris Johnson.
“Well we have very good meetings, the leaders get along very well and the economy of our country is doing very well,” he added.
Send a message to Iran
On two sensitive issues, Iran’s nuclear and Russia’s return to a G8, Donald Trump and his partners appear to have found common ground at their informal dinner on Saturday.
The Seven (United States, Germany, Great Britain, France, Italy, Japan, Canada) instructed French President Emmanuel Macron to “discuss and send a message to Iran” to avoid escalation in the region, diplomatic sources told AFP.
The Iranians stopped in July to respect certain commitments of the Vienna agreement governing their Iranian nuclear program, in reaction to the exit in May 2018 of the United States of the text and the reintroduction of heavy American sanctions.
Read also: Biarritz prepares for a G7 under high voltage
“Too early” for Russia
In early August, Emmanuel Macron, very involved in the European efforts to try to save the agreement, had attracted the wrath of Donald Trump who had reproached him for talking too much “for the United States”.
During the dinner, the seven leaders also agreed to “strengthen the dialogue and coordination” on the current crises with Russia, while believing that it was “too early” to reintegrate into a G8, according to a source diplomatic.
Russia was excluded from the G8 in 2014 after the invasion of Crimea. But Donald Trump is rather favourable to his return, against the current of his peers.
The slowing of the global economy
Messrs. Macron, Trump and Johnson will also debate Sunday with Angela Merkel, Shinzo Abe, Giuseppe Conte and Justin Trudeau on the state of the global economy, which shows worrying signs of slowing down in Germany, China and the United States.
Europeans and Japanese blame some of the blame for the trade war between Washington and Beijing, which still outbid Friday by announcing new customs taxes. But Donald Trump claimed that none of his allies had blamed him for escalating trade conflict. Faced with him, Boris Johnson nevertheless pleaded for “commercial peace”.
Very much in favour of bilateral agreements, Donald Trump also said that the United States was “very close” to a “major” trade agreement with Japan on which the two countries have been working for five months.
The fight against fires in the Amazon
During the day, the leaders of the G7 should agree to participate, including financially, the fight against the multitude of fires devastating the Amazon, this “burning forest” which is “our common good” according to Emmanuel Macron.
They should help not only Brazil but also Chile, whose President Sebastian Pinera was invited to Biarritz, to deploy means of struggle.
Other topics on the agenda include the Presidency’s priorities: the fight against inequality or partnership with Africa. With, according to the sessions, the participation of other leaders, like those of India, Australia or six of Africa. Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel and the President of Burkina Faso Roch Marc Christian Kaboré will thus express themselves together in front of the press on the crisis in the Sahel.
After arriving Saturday under the sun, the leaders will continue to enjoy a breathtaking view of the Atlantic, far from any summer crowd, part of Biarritz having been evacuated.
“Walking portraits”
A few dozen kilometres away, opponents of the G7 do not intend to disarm after holding a counter-summit this weekend. Saturday, they were several thousand to walk in the calm of Hendaye to the Spanish border town of Irun, to claim a world “fair” and a “better protected” environment.
Hundreds of people also took to the streets of Bayonne despite the deployment of a very important police device, which briefly used water cannons and tear gas.
On Sunday, the anti-G7 organized “a march of portraits” Emmanuel Macron who was unhooked in town halls.
Meanwhile, led by Brigitte Macron, the “first ladies”, including Melania Trump, went to discover the Basque Country, including the village of Espelette, famous for its pepper.
