President Donald Trump said Monday that trade would be the primary focus of the G7 meetings in Alberta, Canada.
Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke with reporters before their bilateral meeting ahead of the first sessions between the seven leaders at the summit.
“I think we’re going to accomplish a lot, and I expect to. And I think our primary focus will be trade, and trade with Canada, and I’m sure we can work something out,” he said.
“So am I,” Carney responded.
A reporter then asked what was “holding up a deal with Canada,” Trump pushed back on the framing and highlighted different trade philosophies between himself and the Canadian president.
“It’s not so much holding up. I think we have different concepts. I have a tariff concept. Mark has a different concept, which is something that some people like, but we’re going to see if we can get to the bottom of it today,” Trump said.
“I’m a tariff person. I’ve always been a tariff — it’s simple, it’s easy, it’s precise, and it just goes very quickly. And I think Mark has a more complex idea, but also very good,” he added. “So we’re going to look at both, and we’re going to see what — we’re going to come out with something, hopefully.”
At the top of his remarks, Trump emphasized that his trade team, including U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, was with him in Alberta for the Summit.
“We have a whole group of people, some traders and some other people. I see my top economy people, but we have a very talented group of people, and you do too, and I know they work together very well,” Trump told Carney.
The other world leaders at the meetings are Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Trump was set to have a pull-aside meeting with Merz after the bilateral meeting with Carney, and another pull-aside later with Starmer, per the White House press pool.
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