At the ongoing G-7 summit in Canada, President Trump is the brigand of the ball.
Disgusted by Trump’s tariffs, his withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, his disinterest in the Paris climate accords, and disliking his unique temperament, four of the six G-7 leaders (Russia’s membership is suspended, more on that in a minute) are vocally upset with the U.S. president. The two other leaders, Shinzo Abe of Japan and Giuseppe Conte of Italy, aren’t terribly bothered.
What are the other leaders specific gripes?
From British Prime Minister Theresa May, it’s tariffs, the Iran deal, and now, Russia. A senior British government source on Friday challenged Trump’s call for Russia to return to the G-7. “Before any conversations can take place about Russia rejoining,” the official said, “[Russia] needs to change its approach.” President Emmanuel Macron of France says Trump might be excluded from the end-of-summit communique. Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany is preparing a new strategy to manage difficulties in the U.S. relationship. Similarly Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is portraying Trump as a poor ally.
But here’s the thing. May and Macron have the right to have Trump listen to their concerns.
They’ve earned that right by tolerating Trump’s rude excesses — the Britain First saga with May and the dandruff saga with Macron as examples — and supporting the president with personal and policy alignment. Both May and Macron have increased their defense spending to better support NATO. May and Macron have also taken domestic political heat by publicly supporting Trump as a partner. And the French president and British prime minister are supporting U.S. security and economic interests around the world (the U.S. has a trade surplus with Britain and a narrowing trade deficit with France). Don’t get me wrong, these factors don’t make it incumbent on Trump to respond to May and Macron’s complaints in positive fashion. But they do mean that Trump should listen politely to any May-Macron concerns. This is especially true in relation to Trump’s very ill-advised comment that Russia return to the G-7.
It’s a different story with regards to Trudeau and Merkel.
Their criticisms of Trump deserve a simple Trumpian retort: “Show me the money or shut up.” Because the Canadian prime minister and German chancellor have taken the opposite approach to Trump than their British and French counterparts. While Trudeau made a pretense at building good relations with the U.S. president, he quickly followed Merkel’s track record of thinly veiled rebukes against Trump and leaks to the press as to Trump’s perceived inadequacies as president. Neither of these leaders support U.S. efforts in international security. Germany’s military is an underfunded joke and its resolve against Russia makes Neville Chamberlain look like Winston Churchill by comparison. Trudeau says he will increase defense spending but has delayed much-needed defense acquisition and stopped Canada’s capable military from fighting the Islamic State.
These divergences between May-Macron and Merkel-Trudeau matter because they are the measure of the means of an alliance. Without the means of collective self-defense and shared sacrifice and respect, Trump has good reason to disregard those who lament his policy decisions. But for allies that take action to stand with America, Trump must at least open his ears and politely listen to their complaints.
