from Zero Hedge
For much of the past year Trump has caused angst among allies by maintaining a consistent position that Russia should be invited back into the Group of Seven (G7), making it as it was prior to 2014, the G-8.
Russia had been essentially booted from the summit as relations with the Obama White House broke down over the Ukraine crisis and the Crimea issue. Trump said in August 2019 that Obama had been “outsmarted” by Putin.
But as recently as May when Germany followed by other countries rebuffed Trump’s plans to host the G7 at Camp David, Trump blasted the “very outdated group of countries” and expressed that he planned to invite four additional non-member nations, mostly notably Russia.