McCain and Dems Rip Trump For Trade Tantrums at G7 Summit

Sen. John McCain of Arizona  heavily criticized President Trump on Saturday after the president’s behavior at the Group of Seven (G-7) Summit embarrassed the United States and threatened U.S. farmers and manufacturers.

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Instead of using the summit to strengthen relationships with allies Trump threatened to impose new tariffs on Canada and other countries.  He also used Twitter to revoke his prior endorsement of a joint communique signed with other G7 members at this weekend’s summit.

Late on Saturday night McCain posted his comments on Twitter:

“To our allies: bipartisan majorities of Americans remain pro-free trade, pro-globalization & supportive of alliances based on 70 years of shared values. Americans stand with you, even if our president doesn’t.

McCain was provoked by the president to respond to a series of controversial tweets he posted on Saturday after leaving the summit. Trump came to the summit late then rudely left early to go to Singapore for his meetings with North Korea.

In antagonistic tweets, Trump rebuked Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who had previously said that all of the G7 attendees had agreed to the joint communique, as always has happened in past summits.

“Based on Justin’s false statements at his news conference, and the fact that Canada is charging massive Tariffs to our U.S. farmers, workers and companies, I have instructed our U.S. Reps not to endorse the Communique as we look at Tariffs on automobiles flooding the U.S. Market!” Trump tweeted.

As we wrote yesterday, “Trump pulled the US out of the G7 Communique because US allies refuse to be bullied on trade.” This was embarrassing behavior because the world leaders say the U.S. president is acting like a spoiled brat instead of a dignified statesman. And he didn’t help the interests of the United States with his petulant and childish behavior either because their will be retaliation by other countries against U.S. farmers and manufacturers.

Many Democrats in Congress were appalled by Trump’s behavior in Canada and expressed their outrage on Twitter.

Democratic Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York condemned Trump for his announcement that he did not endorse the joint statement that he had earlier agreed to support. He wrote on Twitter:

“With every brash tweet, President Trump concedes the US’s role as leader of the free world.”

Nancy Pelosi also commented Saturday night, pointing out that Trump is reaching out to our enemies and alienating our allies. She wrote:

“This week started with @realDonaldTrump boosting a Chinese company identified as a national security threat to the U.S. It ended with him standing up for Russia and alienating our allies at the G7. #MAGA”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer also posted on Twitter to give his thoughts and ask a troubling question.  He wrote:

“Are we executing Putin’s diplomatic and national security strategy or AMERICA’s diplomatic and national security strategy? After the last few days, it’s hard to tell.”

Trump’s erratic behavior in front of the leaders of our allies and trading partners has caused many people to question his mental health and his fitness for office.  What John McCain did is tell our friends that the president does not represent his country, and does not reflect what we are.  We hope that they got the message and that these vital relationships will not be irreparably damaged by our president who seems to have gone off the rails.

Leo Vidal

I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.