President Trump told reporters late Saturday that he would be delaying the annual Group of 7 summit until at least September, hours after German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she “cannot confirm” she would be attending amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“I’m postponing it because I don’t feel as a G7 it probably represents what’s going on in the world. It’s a very outdated group of countries,” Mr. Trump said.
Mr. Trump suggested adding four countries: Russia, India, Australia and South Korea. The G7, which was set to be hosted by the U.S., includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom.
Last week, Mr. Trump said he didn’t want the pandemic to stop the summit from happening, possibly splitting the conference between the White House and Camp David. It had previously been decided the summit would be held virtually, but Mr. Trump changed his mind.
“We’re gonna have it probably at the White House and maybe a little combination of Camp David put primarily at the White House,” Mr Trump said May 21. “So if we do the G7 when that all comes together probably it will be in D.C. at the White House. OK? But there could be a piece of it at Camp David, which is nearby.”
The G7 was originally supposed to take place from June 10-12, but had been postponed until the end of June.
