On Saturday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s official Instagram account posted a picture from what her office described simply as a “spontaneous meeting between two working sessions” from the Group of 7 nations summit in Quebec City this weekend where President Donald Trump: railed against “ridiculous and unacceptable” trade tariffs on American goods; threatened to quit all trade with his G7 counterparts while also proposing the complete elimination of tariffs on all goods and services; blamed former President Obama for Russia’s 2014 invasion of Ukraine; and made a curious prediction involving his “touch” and his “feel” for his upcoming meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.
Angela Merkel's office has released this photo taken today at the G7, which tells you a lot about how things went. pic.twitter.com/IXX6K3ayys
— David Mack (@davidmackau) June 9, 2018
The image of Trump—surrounded by British Prime Minister Theresa May, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe—sparked a lively discussion on social media when Buzzfeed News’ David Mack posted it to Twitter, writing, “tells you a lot about how things went.”
“This looks like an intervention,” wrote one Twitter user.
“This isn’t WWII, they’re allies…does he not remember that?” wrote another.
Another commenter said, “We are all Angela Merkel.”
Vicente Fox, the former president of Mexico, later posted the image to Twitter, chiding the president, “@realDonaldTrump, you’re such an spoiled brat, creating imaginary enemies all over the world. This lady and gentlemen are the true leaders of the fre[e] and modern world, you’ve made sure the U.S. lost its position.”
The president arrived to the G7 summit late and left 24 hours early, missing discussions with global leaders on climate change and gender equality.
