By JOSH BOAK
CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump kicked off his time at the Group of Seven summit on Monday by suggesting that Russia and maybe even China should be part of the organization.
The U.S. leader indicated that he would rather have the G7 become the G8 or possibly even the G9, although Russia and China would notably be authoritarian governments in an organization whose members are democracies.
Trump asserted that it was a “very big mistake” to remove Russia in 2014 after it annexed Crimea, a move that precipitated Russia’s wider invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The comments added more complexity regarding Trump’s interests as he is set to meet on Tuesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about ending the brutal war started by the invasion.
“The G7 used to be the G8. Barack Obama and a person named Trudeau didn’t want to have Russia in,” Trump said, referring to Justin Trudeau, who was elected Canadian prime minister the year after Russia was removed from the G8. Stephen Harper was the Canadian prime minister at the time.
“I think you wouldn’t have a war right now if you had Russia in, and you wouldn’t have a war right now if Trump were president four years ago,” Trump said. “They threw Russia out, which I claimed was a very big mistake, even though I wasn’t in politics then.”
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