May 30, 2020 - Politics & Policy

Trump to invite Russia and other non-member G7 countries to summit

Rebecca Falconer

President Donald Trump speaks after the successful launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the manned Crew Dragon spacecraft at the Kennedy Space Center on May 30 — President Trump at Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Saturday. Photo: Saul Martinez/Getty Images

President Trump told reporters on Saturday evening he would postpone the G7 summit in Washington, D.C., to September and expand the meeting to more nations that are not members of the Group of 7.

Details: Trump said he would invite Russia, South Korea, Australia and India to the summit, according to a pool report. "I don’t feel that as a G7 it properly represents what’s going on in the world. It’s a very outdated group of countries," he said.

Pentagon spokesperson Alyssa Farah said the move would bring together traditional U.S. allies to discuss how to deal with the future of China, per the pool report.

The big picture: The G7 meeting had been scheduled to be held in June.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced earlier on Saturday that she wouldn't attend the in-person summit because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.

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Trump to invite Russia and other non-member G7 countries to summit

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