With President Donald Trump’s arrival this week at the French spa resort Évian-les-Bains for a summit of top world leaders, the placid lakeside setting may disguise a somewhat more stormy atmosphere.
Trump has repeatedly insulted most of his Group of 7 counterparts over the last several months, reopening old grudges and igniting new feuds with leaders he once seemed to respect.
The root of his latest ire has been the leaders’ unwillingness to join in the US-Israeli war against Iran, which will be in the spotlight at the summit after Trump announced an agreement with Tehran over the weekend.
In reality, however, the president’s relationship with the G7 has been tortured for years, stretching back to tension-filled summits during his first term. Most of the time, his fellow leaders — who represent the United States’ staunchest allies — have tried to gloss over his jabs. But some have begun hitting back.
Trump has known French President Emmanuel Macron, the host of this year’s summit, the longest. As such, their relationship seems to be the most complicated: one day, a nod of respect; the next, a jab about Macron’s marriage. After years of taking pride in his ability to deal with Trump, Macron has lately sounded more exasperated with his American counterpart.
Things seemed to get off to a good start last year between Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, at least compared to the acrid relationship Trump had with Carney’s predecessor Justin Trudeau. But disputes over trade and a forceful speech Carney delivered earlier this year in Davos led Trump to change his view, and he’s lately taken to calling the leader “Governor Carney,” a nod to the president’s threat to make Canada the 51st US state.
Perhaps no leader in Europe has spent more time attempting to cultivate Trump than British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. For much of last year, it seemed to work. But Starmer’s unwillingness to support Trump’s war with Iran caused the relationship to deteriorate, and now Trump dismisses the prime minister as “no Winston Churchill.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz made a good first impression when he arrived at the White House carrying the birth certificate of Trump’s German-born grandfather. But his status as one of Trump’s favored leaders in Europe took a hit after he questioned the Iran war and said the US was being “humiliated by the Iranian leadership.”
Even the European leader most aligned with Trump — Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni — could not escape the president’s frustrations earlier this year after she declined to participate in the war with Iran. Later, she called Trump’s attacks on Pope Leo XIV “unacceptable.” Trump lashed out at her, proving even a staunch ally like Meloni could not escape his anger.
The newest member of the G7 is also the one who — so far — has mostly evaded Trump’s anger. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has made it her mission to develop a close personal relationship with Trump, aided by their shared connection to the slain Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. But Trump has still been critical of Japan’s refusal to participate in the Iran war, and a stray joke about Pearl Harbor during an Oval Office meeting this year went over poorly in Japan.
