Trump came to the old continent and did something quite extraordinary

The three-day summit of the G7 countries was a success for Europe.

“The atmosphere was exceptionally good, the spirit was good. (President of the USA) Donald Trump himself said that the meeting was very successful”, a correspondent who followed the meeting in Évian, France Karvala of Crete said on Talousamau’s broadcast.

The contrast with January’s meeting in Davos was clear: then Trump had threatened to take over Greenland by force. After that, he even hinted at leaving NATO and barked at allies about the Iran policy.

“But now Trump comes here, praises (the French president) Emmanuel Macronia easy-going, likes the atmosphere, jokes and is good-natured, so that’s quite exceptional.”

Macron was well prepared for the meeting and acted skillfully, Karvala estimated. This was also visible in the final results of the meeting: The G7 countries promised to increase military support for Ukraine and tighten sanctions on Russia. Last year, a similar joint declaration was not achieved at the Canadian meeting, and Trump unexpectedly left the meeting in the middle of everything.

The G7 countries are the USA, France, Germany, Italy, Great Britain, Japan and Canada.

Trump and the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had previously taken together. Now the two had a conciliatory meeting where they emphasized their cooperation and friendship.

Chancellor of Germany Friedrich Merz had in turn criticized Trump’s Iran policy, as a result of which the US withdrew its troops from Germany.

“Now Merz gave Trump the jersey of the German national soccer team with the number forty-seven and they got to a bilateral meeting. It was not as warm as with Meloni, but still businesslike,” Karvala said.

“Of course, the situation can change quickly again, but now is a good moment to breathe in this slightly warmed transatlantic sun.”

The summit meeting of EU leaders starts on Thursday. The biggest political issue at the meeting is what the EU can do about China’s overproduction.

“China is dumping goods here at a record pace, especially since the United States has tightened tariffs. Something should be done about this. On the other hand, some member countries would not want to escalate a trade war with China,” Karvala said.

What is expected from the NATO meeting in July? Watch the interview and broadcast in full here: